’Tis season to be jolly careful
Corks shot into eyes and tree tangles fill ACC’s Xmas hurt list
Christmas is a time of peace and joy for many — and a cork shot into the eye from a bottle of bubbly for others. What an unforgettable way to kick off Christmas dinner: an unguided cork firing, weapon-like, across the room and injuring a partygoer’s eye.
There were eight wine-cork claims last Christmas, according to the Accident Compensation Corporation, although on closer analysis some turned out to be from beer bottle tops.
“The majority of these were from popping the cork . . . and it had accidentally hit someone in the face, in particular an eye,” an ACC spokesman said.
But it turns out wine corks are mere tiddlers in the high-stakes game of Christmas cheer.
Some 137 claims were made for injuries associated with Christmas trees — at a cost of $93,413 — although this was well down on the 217 such claims in 2015.
“There were quite a few injuries involving lifting and carrying Christmas trees, in particular bending over to pick it up,” the spokesman said.
“People reaching up high to decorate the tree was also trending . . .”
Labour MP Tamati Coffey’s partner is among those to suffer a tree-tangle.
Tim Smith was standing on a couch to place lights high on the Christmas tree in the couple’s Rotorua home on Sunday when he was hit by the ceiling fan, which was spinning at full speed, and fell.
Coffey, who was in the kitchen, December 2016 Christmas trees Christmas lights Christmas presents Roast dinners Wine cork said he heard a yell then a thump and ran into the lounge to see Smith on the floor. Smith, who landed on his left elbow, was momentarily unconscious but told Coffey he did not need an ambulance.
Coffey took Smith to Rotorua Hospital where he was told he needed an arm operation.
ACC, in the full knowledge of almost all that can go wrong, urged people to use a stepladder to hang decorations — “not a chair”.
Festive lights got tangled up in 45 injury claims last year, down from 61 in 2015. Lights-related injuries often resulted from falls, especially from ladders when people were rigging up the festive look outdoors.
“We also saw instances of people tripping over Christmas light cords.”
Christmas presents were cited for 20 claims last year, although the primary problem seems to have been what people did with presents — such as bending to pick a present up, or cutting a finger when opening one.
Likewise the seven “roast-dinner” claims, which the ACC spokesman said were “mainly around the dinner table, such as dropping a dish . . . and knocking a body part”.
Other Christmas-time injury trends noted by ACC included dog bites, nips and scratches involving over-excited children and dogs, falls from bicycles — “presumably new presents” — and plenty of insect bites.