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What’s the furthest you’ve ever fallen?
Humpty Dumpty was a big wuss. While he was busy incurring mortal breakage from falling off a dinky little wall, people have been falling off of skyscrapers and out of planes — and surviving. Heck, it even happened to someone I know: my friend Sara’s dad worked construction in the 80s, and one unfortunate day (or fortunate, depending on how you look at it), he fell off the top of a six-story work site — and landed on his feet. Some nagging pain aside, after a lengthy hospital stay he was more or less fully-functional, and every year on the anniversary of the accident, his family throws him a tongue-in-cheek “fall party.” As cool (and scary) as that is, however, it’s small potatoes compared to the following Guinness-worthy fallers. Take a page from their book, Humpty:
The faller: Alcides Moreno, a Manhattan window washer
He fell off of: the side of a 47-story Upper East Side apartment building after the safety ropes on his 3-foot-wide window washer’s platform failed, last week.
Putting him back together: is going much better than expected; despite extensive injuries, he’s awake and talking, and doctors expect he’ll walk again, too.
What we can learn: well, Moreno was certainly lucky: according to staff at the New York-Presbyterian hospital where he’s being treated, fewer than 1 percent of people who fall more than 10 stories survive. Falls from much shorter distances can be fatal if the victim hits his or her head. (When Moreno is feeling a little better, maybe he’ll share his technique.)
The faller: Vesna Vulovic, a stewardess, in the winter of 1972
She fell: 33,330 feet from an airplane over the Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia) after a terrorist bomb ripped it to pieces, earning her a place in the Guinness Book: “Highest Fall Survived Without a Parachute.” She was the sole survivor — 27 others died — and was found on a snowy mountainside by a German hiker, a serving cart pinned against her spine.
Putting her back together again: She never walked again, but aside from that, Vesna made a full recovery. She even went back to work for the airline (though she took a desk job), and claims to have suffered no psychological trauma as a result of the accident, because a month-long amnesia erased it from her memory.
What we can learn: it’s hard to know what Vesna’s falling technique was, thanks to her memory loss. It’s thought, however, that her low blood pressure helped her survive the initial shock of the 500 mph wind and -45°C temperatures (her heart may have burst otherwise), and that the snow cushioned her landing somewhat. The best way to survive a fall from an airplane is to fall into a body of deep water with your body extended into as neat a line as possible — though deep snow also provides some cushion.
The faller: The Royal Air Force’s Sgt. Nicholas Alkamede
He didn’t fall so much as he: jumped, seeing as how it was World War II and his plane was on fire during a not-so-successful bombing mission over Germany, which turned out to be a good move. He fell 18,000 feet to become the luckiest parachuteless bailout of the war, falling through tree branches and into a snowdrift, where his worst injuries were scratches, bruises, burns and a twisted knee. Not so luckily, he was then captured by the Germans.
What we can learn: aim for the trees, and cross your fingers that ski conditions are primo.
In the bar in Shattrath City (Lower City) there is a blood elf barfly named Haris Pilton. Check out her sunglasses.
posted by Twig on 1-4-2008 at 11:27 am
Wow - these people are extremely fortunate. As for myself, I don’t know the exact distance I fell (perhaps a mere 15 feet?) but I fell on some boulders which caused me to break some ribs, lacerate my liver, and bruise my lungs. I spent a month in the hospital and the next 6 months sitting out of P.E. before I was cleared with a fully functioning body. Not so bad but I did almost die, and that’s not nearly as high up as those three listed!!
posted by CK on 1-4-2008 at 11:41 am
I was an extremely clumsy teenager. I fell into an orchestra pit twice (once off the edge while carrying a sousaphone, once through a stage trapdoor). I also fell into a house through a hole in the roof while replacing a swamp cooler. My lower body landed on a kitchen table while my upper body continued on the floor below.
Luckily for me, I was never seriously injured and eventually gained some semblance of coordination by the time I graduated High School.
——-
For Twig: Huh?
posted by Jason! on 1-4-2008 at 12:26 pm
Check out John Fitch of Lakeville Ct for falling from the sky. He did it in WW2 and last I knew (2007) was on his way to try to set a world land speed record.
posted by Ken David on 1-4-2008 at 12:55 pm
Twig meant to post a comment in the comments section of the Warcraft entry.
posted by Jim on 1-4-2008 at 1:22 pm
i’ve never had any great falls myself, but my cousin’s husband once fell off of a 15 foot tall or so sign for their art store to the ground. he landed on his feet, and thus, he shattered his feet and ankles. several surgeries later he can walk, but his feet look like mangled lumps of flesh (i’ve been told, he always keeps his shoes on).
posted by tami on 1-4-2008 at 1:54 pm
I fell 10 feet out of a tree once and landed flat on my back. I was out for several minutes, but other than that, no harm done.
posted by bryn on 1-4-2008 at 3:50 pm
When I was younger, I fainted at the top of my staircase here at home and tumbled down the stairs unconscious (and naked! I was feeling unwell in the shower and was running out to get my mother). Put a hole through the wall at the bottom of the stairs with my elbow and ended up with some nice rug burn on my back, but other than that I survived!
posted by Sahar on 1-5-2008 at 12:47 am
I fell from a tree branch that snapped about 25 feet up. I landed inches from getting a rounded protruding plastic cable box in my gut. Fall just knocked me out for a minuite though.
posted by twodollars on 1-5-2008 at 6:10 am
I fell off a ladder while putting house wrap on the second story.It was winter and the ladder kicked out from under me so I landed on the ladder.I didnt break anything but I was really sore and took the rest of the day off.
posted by Rick Campbell on 1-6-2008 at 11:34 am
what about bear grylls?
posted by THW on 1-7-2008 at 7:12 pm
I fell from a twenty foot rappel tower at Muamee Boyscout camp doing an Ausie rappel. I was teaching a class on the rappel and had a guy who was an idiot hook me up “suicide”. I landed on my hands and knees with no trauma at all. I had to chase the guy down to convince him I was alright! We both climbed back up the tower and did it right the second time. I watched a buddy fall from 75 feet during the same type of rappel and landed the same as I did with no breaks and only a couple of bruises.
posted by Maxx on 1-11-2008 at 8:08 pm
Uhm,I’ve only fallen from as high as I stand normally…
But I have an inquiry about Humpty Dumpty.
We all know that poor Humpty MUST have been pushed…
but where in thet nursery rhyme does it ever state, or even imply that Humpty Dumpty was an egg?
It reminds me of how sadistic Mother Goose must have been.
posted by Kami on 1-16-2008 at 1:02 pm
I was forever falling off of stuff probably due to my liking of climbing said stuff, trees, jungle gyms, horses, boulders. My best fall was from a horse running in a very tight circle. The Centrifugal force threw me and when I landed I rolled about 20 feet (hitting my back on a rock in the process) before jumping to my feet with a “That was AWESOME! Much to my grandmother’s dismay.
posted by Des on 1-16-2008 at 3:37 pm
I was a gymnast when I was younger and was always falling off some piece of equipment, but my most severe “fall” was when I was waterskiing. My friends thought it would be funny to “crack the whip”, just as I was crossing from one side of the wake to the other. I ended up skidding along the top of the water for about 50 yard unconscious because I had hit my head on my ski. That day I learned to never let my friend drive and those life jackets really do work!
posted by Allie on 1-20-2008 at 4:30 pm
I “fell” over 400 feet off of a cliff. I made contact with the cliff wall about 100 feet down and slid the rest of the way, feet first. My left foot managed to hit a rock that shattered my foot and tib/fib, ripped my knee apart and, worst of all, made me kick myself in my crotch with my flailing foot. Except for my left foot and leg and a big case of road rash I was fine.
posted by Ronald on 5-1-2008 at 3:18 pm
Alan Magee, US Air Corps
During WWII, jumped out of a disabled pane and survived a 22,000 foot fall, despite nasty injuries.
Full details at wikipedia and can be googled elsewhere.
posted by little gator on 5-10-2008 at 10:39 am
When I was a freshman in college I fell out of my fourth floor dorm room window. I had just gotten back from a frat party and therefore was completely drunk out of my mind which is probably what saved me. No broken bones–I actually got up and walked away or so I’m told, I don’t remember the actual fall–but I was bruised black from the nape of my neck to about mid-thigh and had to stand up in my classes for about two weeks because (obviously) I couldn’t sit down. I just attended my twentieth college reunion and found out my incident has become a minor legend–I even got interviewed by the campus paper and had my picture taken next to the window in question. What a thing to be remembered for …
posted by Trish on 5-10-2008 at 6:24 pm