The NSW Ambulance Service has issued its annual “advice for avoiding misadventure this Christmas”, including some stellar examples from the Hunter.
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NSW Ambulance Inspector John Brotherhood said each Christmas paramedics attend many injuries that could be avoided.
Take these incidents from last year. On Christmas Day, a 24-year-old Salamander Bay man was injured on an inflatable pool toy, and a 52-year-old man from Forresters Beach on the Central Coast fractured a vertebrae, after falling off a hoverboard.
On Boxing Day, a 39-year-old North Lambton man got a fish hook stuck in his forehead, a 23-year-old Newcastle man suffered an ankle injury after climbing an apartment wall and falling four metres and a 40-year-old Caves Beach man rode a bicycle into a drain while intoxicated.
“It’s a time of year when spirits are high and people are taking risks in the name of fun or engaging in activities that are beyond their ability,” the inspector said.
He said accidents involving bicycles, scooters, skateboards and trampolines were common this time of year.
We should add that stepping on Christmas decorations can also be painful.
