Serious injury during personal training session

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A nation of victims .

when people can't take accountability for their own uncoordination things have gone off the rails.

Agree. OP’s posts fill me with rage. Get over it and stop looking for a payday, dude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DW stumbled during step-up exercise with a personal trainer at a local gym, and shattered her left wrist (3 hour surgery, can't drive for weeks, follow-up surgery in future, will have to walk our son down the aisle at his wedding with a messed-up hand). The trainer apparently watched her fall and didn't try to help. What, if anything, do you think the gym should do for us?

Is she walking down the aisle on her hands?

[Anonymous]

Unless the trainer literally PUSHED your wife to make her fall over, they owe you nothing.

And it’s sue happy people like you who are wrecking our country. Crappy medical system, everything so expensive, all to cover these ridiculous lawsuits. Terrible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do Americans always have to sue someone for something? Your wife fell. It’s an unfortunate accident and no you shouldn’t be able to sue someone!!!

OP here. I didn't say anything about suing. Thinking about some kind of courtesy comp. IMO safety should be the first priority for older people, and DW is on Medicare.

I would say that, unless your wife clearly indicated otherwise, the expectation is that she would be both strong enough, coordinated and balanced to do a step up exercise. If it’s outside your wife’s skill level, she should’ve spoken up. The type of grab bars you are referring to are in hospitals and PT clinics where that type of physical fitness isn’t presumed.

It was an accident with no fault in the trainer or gym.

Um, no. It's the trainer's responsibility to correctly understand the client's capacities and make sure the training is safe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sometimes people fall. Accidents happen. It is sad.

OP here. Apparently I'm the only one who sees a difference between stumbling incidental to an activity, and stumbling while taking steps on the instructions of a trainer. I've heard something about straddling the step block, and DW wasn't told to do that.

The trainer told DW that she was lucky to just have a broken wrist, because if she'd fallen a little differently she would have hit her head on a piece of protruding metal. Maybe accidents can't be avoided, but the facility can attempt to mitigate their effects, and this gym doesn't seem to even try.

I should add some context about wanting some kind of courtesy comp. DW has given this gym a whole lot of personal training business over the years. When she told the manager to suspend her monthly membership, which is a small part of her total relationship with the place, it would have been nice if the manager had said something like "Sure, and feel free to come in anytime and use a bike if you feel up to it". Customer relations with a loyal customer.

So your DW is in enough shape to have been doing personal training for YEARS, but somehow, it should have been assumed she's too novice to do a step up?? Get your story straight, OP.

[Anonymous]

Does your wife have brittle bones?

That sounds like a very serious injury from a very minor fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do Americans always have to sue someone for something? Your wife fell. It’s an unfortunate accident and no you shouldn’t be able to sue someone!!!

OP here. I didn't say anything about suing. Thinking about some kind of courtesy comp. IMO safety should be the first priority for older people, and DW is on Medicare.

I would say that, unless your wife clearly indicated otherwise, the expectation is that she would be both strong enough, coordinated and balanced to do a step up exercise. If it’s outside your wife’s skill level, she should’ve spoken up. The type of grab bars you are referring to are in hospitals and PT clinics where that type of physical fitness isn’t presumed.

It was an accident with no fault in the trainer or gym.

Um, no. It's the trainer's responsibility to correctly understand the client's capacities and make sure the training is safe.

The training was safe - the wife stumbled. The trainer did not make the wife stumble. It happens to the best of us sometimes. It's not like stumbling was part of the training plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does your wife have brittle bones?

That sounds like a very serious injury from a very minor fall.

NP. My cousin stepped off a curb, tripped, and broke both her wrists. Surgery, braces, and permanent weakness. It happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do Americans always have to sue someone for something? Your wife fell. It’s an unfortunate accident and no you shouldn’t be able to sue someone!!!

OP here. I didn't say anything about suing. Thinking about some kind of courtesy comp. IMO safety should be the first priority for older people, and DW is on Medicare.

I would say that, unless your wife clearly indicated otherwise, the expectation is that she would be both strong enough, coordinated and balanced to do a step up exercise. If it’s outside your wife’s skill level, she should’ve spoken up. The type of grab bars you are referring to are in hospitals and PT clinics where that type of physical fitness isn’t presumed.

It was an accident with no fault in the trainer or gym.

Um, no. It's the trainer's responsibility to correctly understand the client's capacities and make sure the training is safe.

Have you ever tripped going up or down stairs? Or just walking on a flat surface? Stepping up and down is not rocket science. I trained some clients who were 300+ pounds and even they could manage to step up and down without falling. It was a silly, crazy accident that happens.

Anyway, if you read the fine print in your gym or training contract, you'll see that you agreed to never sue for any injuries incurred during training or while on the premises from training activities or equipment. I've seen people's knees buckle from trying to lift too much, toes/feet get smashed by dropped weights, people roll their ankles while running on the track or treadmill, people tripping and flying off the treadmills, a few people going so fast on the elliptical that they lose their rhythm and thrust themselves forward over the machine, a woman who had part of her finger amputated by a machine, etc. and if none of those people can sue, you're not going to be successful in suing over a misstep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A nation of victims .

when people can't take accountability for their own uncoordination things have gone off the rails.

Agree. OP’s posts fill me with rage. Get over it and stop looking for a payday, dude.

+1 It was an accident due to OP's wife having a lapse in coordination, unbelievable to blame it on the trainer and the gym. Jesus.

[Anonymous]

Did your wife do the stepping exercise many times in the past without falling?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do Americans always have to sue someone for something? Your wife fell. It’s an unfortunate accident and no you shouldn’t be able to sue someone!!!

OP here. I didn't say anything about suing. Thinking about some kind of courtesy comp. IMO safety should be the first priority for older people, and DW is on Medicare.

I would say that, unless your wife clearly indicated otherwise, the expectation is that she would be both strong enough, coordinated and balanced to do a step up exercise. If it’s outside your wife’s skill level, she should’ve spoken up. The type of grab bars you are referring to are in hospitals and PT clinics where that type of physical fitness isn’t presumed.

It was an accident with no fault in the trainer or gym.

Um, no. It's the trainer's responsibility to correctly understand the client's capacities and make sure the training is safe.

Have you ever tripped going up or down stairs? Or just walking on a flat surface? Stepping up and down is not rocket science. I trained some clients who were 300+ pounds and even they could manage to step up and down without falling. It was a silly, crazy accident that happens.

Anyway, if you read the fine print in your gym or training contract, you'll see that you agreed to never sue for any injuries incurred during training or while on the premises from training activities or equipment. I've seen people's knees buckle from trying to lift too much, toes/feet get smashed by dropped weights, people roll their ankles while running on the track or treadmill, people tripping and flying off the treadmills, a few people going so fast on the elliptical that they lose their rhythm and thrust themselves forward over the machine, a woman who had part of her finger amputated by a machine, etc. and if none of those people can sue, you're not going to be successful in suing over a misstep.

you sound like a crappy trainer. every person is different, and their capacities change as the session goes on. personally I don't think any elderly person should be doing step-up exercises.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Um, no. It's the trainer's responsibility to correctly understand the client's capacities and make sure the training is safe.

But do we know the circumstances were unsafe? Isn't the whole point of exercise to be physically challenged? Sometimes with challenges accidents happen. Sure there could have been negligence that caused the accident, but we don't know that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DW stumbled during step-up exercise with a personal trainer at a local gym, and shattered her left wrist (3 hour surgery, can't drive for weeks, follow-up surgery in future, will have to walk our son down the aisle at his wedding with a messed-up hand). The trainer apparently watched her fall and didn't try to help. What, if anything, do you think the gym should do for us?

Disagreeing somewhat with the vibe of most posters. I would think part of a personal trainer's role is spotting, which would include keeping a close eye for potential safety pitfalls which MIGHT also include helping a person recover balance at the very start of a fall. I say this recognizing that this is no guarantee against accidents. But also I would expect extra close attention working with aging customers --Medicare therefore at least 65.

OP I can sympathize, having shattered my (right) wrist in a fall from a ladder several years ago. (only had 1 surgery in my case). Fine motions, especially those that involve any kind of twisting, will be tough for a long time (opening the mail was a surprisingly long-lasting problem, or retrieving any item from my pocket). I would also think that a business would be sincerely dismayed when a customer has a serious injury in connection with an activity the business is directly involved in regardless of legal liability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Um, no. It's the trainer's responsibility to correctly understand the client's capacities and make sure the training is safe.

But do we know the circumstances were unsafe? Isn't the whole point of exercise to be physically challenged? Sometimes with challenges accidents happen. Sure there could have been negligence that caused the accident, but we don't know that.

Well, it's unclear. But based on my experience with personal trainers, there's really very little consciousness of the needs of older/less fit individuals. They're by and large (but not all) meatheads who just want to "push you to your limits."