In FY2024, about 11,200 people aged 65 or over died (indoor and outdoor) due to falling, more than five times as many as road traffic deaths (about 2,100). You can say the number is quite significant as a cause of deaths other than illness.
Number of
deaths among people aged 65+ due to traffic accidents (blue) and falls
(orange): 2024
Source:
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. 2024 Vital Statistics (definite
figures).
One day, as
I got off an escalator at a station on my way home from work, I found an older
man lying face down. People around him also noticed him and kept looking from a
distance.
It seemed
like he tripped on the escalator and hit his face. His glasses were cracked,
and blood was coming out of his forehead. His mouth was also cut.
As I approached
him to ask if he was all right, a young man, maybe in his 30s, smoothly came
over and sat down in front of him.
“Are you all
right? Can you hear me? Does anything hurt?” The young man called out loudly.
“I... I'm fine,” the older man replied in a faint, almost inaudible voice.
“Okay, you're conscious.” As soon as checking the older man’s condition, the
young man pointed and gave instructions to people around him: “Hey, please go
get a station attendant. Could you go to the convenience store over there and
buy some bandages? And you keep talking to this gentleman, will you? Well, it's
not safe here, so let's move him a little. Could you give me a hand?”
While giving
these instructions, the young man also kept helping the injured man, pressing a
handkerchief against the wound to stop the bleeding and putting his own bag
under the older man’s head as a pillow. The people who had received his instructions
took action all at once to fulfill their roles. As for me, I just kept talking
to the older man and helped him move to safety.
After a
while, a person returned from the convenience store, and another one came back
with a station employee and two other people, a man and a woman. This time, the
woman ran over to the older man and efficiently took his pulse, spoke to him,
and checked his injuries. She then said, “Everyone, we are doctors. We've
arranged an ambulance, so you can rest easy now. Thank you for your
cooperation. You can go home now and leave the rest to us.”
Hearing her
words, the people sighed in relief and quickly headed home like a receding
tide.
I looked
around to find the young man who had given us the incredible instructions, but
he was gone, nowhere to be seen.
This whole
thing happened in only 15 minutes or so. Their teamwork was amazing, as if it
had been one of the scenes filmed for a TV drama. None of us knew the older man
who had fallen, nor did we know each other. Despite being no experts in rescue
work, when necessary, we can happily help each other, take action, and leave
quietly without even identifying ourselves.
Japanese
people are amazing. Bravo to that young man! I felt energized and inspired by
this incident.
It is true
that falls can be deadly for many older people. But it doesn't have to be a
reason for not going out. If people around you offer help as this example shows,
you'll be fine. An invisible bond should be protecting you.
<Written by Mamiko Kashima>
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