The Dangers of Gardening.

Oh my goodness Linda how awful!!!hope Barbara feels better soon.

Linda, just re-reading this story again I got a really strong déjà vu!? I'm wondering if something very similar has been posted somewhere on this site in the past...but I'm astonished that the first doctor failed to retrieve the whole bit of cane from Barbara's neck. I hope she will be back to gardening again soon....perhaps avoiding the bamboo though!

Hi, sorry to hear this Linda, I find the best way to push a bamboo cane into the ground, is to have 1 foot forward of the other, and use your arms to push down, that way, if the cane breaks, your weight goes onto the forward foot, and you stay upright, I know it's not a lot of use to your friend now, and I hope she gets better quickly, Derek.

Some thin upright supports do catch on a stone and bend.
I have some little plastic protective caps that I try to keep on the end of canes in the greenhouse, as these can be dangerous.
Are there any metal plant supports available ?

so sorry to hear about your friend,Linda,but glad she is on the mend..I think most of us have had garden related accidents at one time or another...I hope she recovers well..

What a horrible thing to happen, she must have been terrified. Fancy having to go to three hospitals in one day - poor soul. Good to hear she is getting over it anyway.

Barbara got home tonight.....today is her birthday!
She has the little plastic tops on her canes but that wasn't the part she fell onto Diane.
Her neck was swollen but I must admit I didn't expect them to find some cane still in there Karen. She had pulled the cane out of her neck herself. Awful! I don't remember a similar case.
I have fallen when pushing a cane into the ground but I just flattened the plant I was trying to support.
I will be more careful in future. I think you are right Derek.....one foot ahead of the other. Thank you for the kind thought on Barbara's behalf.

Glad Barbara's home and hope she can try and have a nice birthday :-(
I had a similar thing a couple of years ago , mine didn't have such a nasty outcome though, with a brand new wooden handled garden spade I was on the allotment no one else about and I shudder to think what could have happened,just digging away,the soil wasn't that hard and the shaft of the spade snapped lengthways, luckily I fell sideways as the sharp point it left , would have impaled me had I fell forward .

glad to hear your friend is on the mend, thank you for the warning, this snapping cane has happened to me on several occasions, thankfully without the nasty outcome your friend had. Good advice to have weight balanced on the ground. Will remember this story when I am out and about in the garden with my canes. Get well soon Barbara and have a good birthday. :O)

Thank you all from Barbara. I will certainly remember this story when I am putting in canes next year. Barbara has a fantastic garden so I hope this doesn't put her off.

That's frightening. I don't think many people realise the dangers that lie in a garden.
I hope your friend Barbara will be all right now ......

What a horrible thing to happen to your friend. I wish her well. I use some long metal stakes with a ring at the top to encircle a stem and bang em in with a rubber mallet. I do not always use the support ring. I always use the mallet to knock in a bamboo cane. Quite easy to hurt oneself while gardening, thorns, pinches from pruners, scratches, backaches. Things going in or hitting the eyes etc.

I'm so relieved it didn't lead to blood poisoning which could have killed her.

I had a similar accident 2 years ago when a cane supporting a foxglove snapped as I was pushing it into the ground. It jarred my shoulder and upper arm which have never been quite right ever since, so take care everybody!

I am quite worried about moving canes at this time of year as I get rid of all the dead leaves etc. Also we have steps that get slippy too. I hope to stay accident free by Christmas.

Linda, sorry to hear about Barbara. Glad she was out for her Birthday. Hope she is fully recovered now and was able to enjoy Christmas. ?

She is fine Alan. Just glad it is all behind her.

bamboo canes are the devil for splinters, but this was rather mre than that! would have thoguht that the original doctor would have checked for fragments before stitching it up.

The problem was there was so much swelling at the time Fran. When she went into hospital the doctor tried to feel for any pieces but couldn't feel anything. It was after the Xray it was seen.