Banana skin inflicts plenty of pain
An Auckland woman is warning that slipping on a banana skin is no joke, after serious injuries from a slip left her in treatment for over a year.
Elizabeth van Wyk, from Takapuna on the North Shore, was pushing a trolley in the carpark of her local supermarket on Valentine’s Day 2018 when she took a tumble, suffering a broken femur, a torn anterior cruciate ligament and cartilage damage in her knee.
The culprit that caused her slip? A single rogue banana skin.
‘‘I was in so much pain that I was passing in and out of consciousness,’’ she said.
Van Wyk was discharged from Auckland City Hospital a month later, with permanent injuries.
Since her accident, she has spent hundreds of hours with orthopaedic surgeons, physiotherapists and occupational therapists to help her manage her pain while re-learning to walk.
‘‘Almost a year after the accident, I still have pain, daily. I’m still on a crutch and getting therapy three times a week.’’
Doctors chose not to operate on her torn anterior cruciate ligament due to her age.
Traumatised by the incident, van Wyk was reduced to tears after seeing a ‘‘blob’’ of fruit by the entrance of the supermarket several months later.
‘‘Be careful when you drop something ... never think it might not matter.’’
She was, however, also aware her accident had a funny side to it.
‘‘It’s such a joke in our culture.’’
She sympathised with the Australian man who was ridiculed after he slipped and fell on onions at a Bunnings sausage sizzle in 2015 now she knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of a strange injury.
Figures provided by Accident Compensation Corporation spokesman James Funnell proved van Wyk was not the only New Zealander who fell victim to a banana in 2018, with 91 others receiving compensation for injuries.