Your worst theatre injury
- Thread starterTechiegirly
- Start date
thelightguy87
Active Member
I was in a genie lift that tipped over while i was 20' up focusing lights.
Broke my upper arm(Hemerus), Elbow, Broken Rib, Bruised lung, which then developed pneumonia, 3 fractures to my pelvis and 1 fracture to my hip. 2 weeks in a hospital, 11 days in rehab, and i still go to therapy every day and won't go back to work for another 2 months.
Definitely my worst injury, and don't think I'll top it, while working in the theater.
Broke my upper arm(Hemerus), Elbow, Broken Rib, Bruised lung, which then developed pneumonia, 3 fractures to my pelvis and 1 fracture to my hip. 2 weeks in a hospital, 11 days in rehab, and i still go to therapy every day and won't go back to work for another 2 months.
Definitely my worst injury, and don't think I'll top it, while working in the theater.
i havent made it through any event in my theater without bleeding. i almost made it through my most recent show until i did something rather stupid with an extension ladder. the ladder has 2 small handrails that extend up the bottom 5-6 rungs with no caps on top. while having 4 students hold the ladder strait up i climbed up and extended the ladder to reach the grid. on the way down i slipped and dug my hip into the top of the rail. i now have a 10" vertical scar that doesnt look to be fading away
WOO HOO Battlescars!
WOO HOO Battlescars!
How did it tip over???
CrazyTechie
Well-Known Member
My latest and greatest (yes I manage to find myself hurt pretty good once a school year so far) was during the light hang for the recent dance concert. We were hanging ladders on all of our electrics and I was moving a Little Giant ladder from stage right to stage left and I somehow managed to knock out a barn door from one of the fresnels and it fell about two or three feet before it hit me in the head. It left about a half inch laceration in my head.
Well when I went to the insta care they took a look at it and put two staples in my head and I just had them taken out friday of last week.
Well when I went to the insta care they took a look at it and put two staples in my head and I just had them taken out friday of last week.
A fellow student missed with a pneumatic stapler during load-in for our opera this year, and put a staple 1/4" into my thumb. hooray 4am mistakes
I had a similar incident with a pneumatic stapler 14 years ago, except I did it to myself. Stapling plastic under a set for a small pool of water, I put a staple through the joint of my left middle finger.
manuallyfocused
Active Member
About a year ago I was making a custom bracket for a door that had to get kicked down on cue. I grabbed a grinder from the tool room and went to work cleaning up some of my welds, grinding in a 1/4" space between two 1/4" plates. Unbeknownst to me, I had picked a grinder with a wheel that had a big chunk missing from it, and it ended up catching on the steel and shooting up to hit me in the face. The body of the grinder smashed my nose, and the grinding wheel carved a groove across one of the lenses of my glasses (regular glasses, not safety glasses. thankfully plastic frames and polycarbonate lenses). At this point I let go of the trigger and of the grinder, which fell into a metal trash can right next to me. I walked over to the sink and washed off my nose, bandaged it up, and went back to my workstation. Then I noticed a burning smell. It turned out that the grinder had fallen into a metal trashcan full of sawdust and had set the sawdust on fire. I went back to the sink, got a bucket of water, and dowsed the fire. Then I went and sat down for a bit.
My nose was swollen and bloody for a few weeks aftewards, but nothing was broken and it healed remarkably quickly. And I went back to the place I bought my glasses and they replaced the scratched lens under the warranty for the coating on the lens! All that's left is a little scratch in the frame that nobody but me knows is there.
I've also dewalt/milwaukee/makita'd most of my fingers and palms, stapled a finger or two, and smashed my various digits more times than I can count. But my grinder experience was certainly the worst I've had so far, and hopefully the worst I'll ever have.
My nose was swollen and bloody for a few weeks aftewards, but nothing was broken and it healed remarkably quickly. And I went back to the place I bought my glasses and they replaced the scratched lens under the warranty for the coating on the lens! All that's left is a little scratch in the frame that nobody but me knows is there.
I've also dewalt/milwaukee/makita'd most of my fingers and palms, stapled a finger or two, and smashed my various digits more times than I can count. But my grinder experience was certainly the worst I've had so far, and hopefully the worst I'll ever have.
nithin1997
Member
The worst would be having a 20lb counterweight dropped on your foot from 5 feet.
Soxred93
Active Member
I've done that with a 30 lb. counterweight from 2 feet.
I think we've ALL dropped a stage weight on our feet at SOME point...
MarshallPope
Well-Known Member
I haven't... yet... Crap. I shouldn't have said that. Although I have pinched my fingers with them way too many times.
My worst theatre injury is now a torn achilles. I tripped stepping a cable pick that had been lowered in during strike but was laying across a 12in truss. You would think I could step over it but evidently, not so much. I am now in a walking boot. The Dr said I could walk on it if it didn't hurt as long as I was in the boot. I did it a couple of Sundays ago, went to the Dr on monday and SMed a 6 day event starting on Tuesday. I'm thinking she didn't figure on my 10 to 14 hr days.
HEY, I got one of those (walking boot).
I missed the "Pit going down" call a week ago, landed bad when it was 3" down, out a week+half. One seriously screwed up ankle, but possibly and only just marginally better then a torn Achilles.
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Hey me three! Except mine was from running steeplechase, yeah I do get out of the theatre sometimes...
