Does this count as a freak accident?
By Fleur
@Fleura (36085)
United Kingdom
August 10, 2026 3:46pm CST
A couple of days ago I was cutting some unwanted branches out of a hedge. I don’t think I’m particularly accident-prone but I have had a couple of incidents with hedges. In the past I have been so focused on reaching in and looking at the branches I want to cut that I haven’t noticed spiky bits in the foreground and twice I have been poked in the eye with a thorny twig.
So this time I was wearing protective glasses. Not to mention overalls to cover my arms so I wouldn’t get scratched to pieces, and gloves to protect my fingers from the thorns.
I cut out a biggish Y-shaped branch, and then I was trying to pull it out from the middle of the hedge. I was tugging it quite hard when suddenly it snapped
And I literally went running backwards for a few yards…
And then fell backwards
Onto a sharp stone.
Ouch!
I knew I was going to have a big bruise but it took a couple of days to develop. Now it’s about the size of my hand and a very vivid deep purple colour. It certainly makes a few other small ones pale into insignificance! Luckily it hasn’t been particularly painful after the initial shock!
All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2026.
11 people like this
10 responses
@RasmaSandra (99804)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
13h
OUCH! Sure hope it heals quickly, From what I know the purple is from burst blood vessels when you fell,
4 people like this
@DaddyEvil (176822)
• United States
12h
Well, that depends on how you want to look at it. 
Honestly, pulling on the limbs and it snapping making you run backwards was actually something you should have foreseen... Tripping and falling on the sharp stone was an unforeseen accident.
I'm sorry you got a large bruise but I'm glad it doesn't really hurt.
When I do something like that, the bruises always hurt for days and Pretty yells at me... Since I was hospitalized and diagnosed with hydrocephalus, someone from Adult Protective Services calls once a month and asks if I've fallen and gotten visible cuts or bruises since they talked with me last. I don't like it and they tend to want to ask Pretty how I got "damaged", as if she's done something to hurt me. Once, a lady actually came to the house to look at me after I fell and broke my front teeth on the floor. *sigh* She took photos and wrote a report on the injury.
Honestly, pulling on the limbs and it snapping making you run backwards was actually something you should have foreseen... Tripping and falling on the sharp stone was an unforeseen accident.
I'm sorry you got a large bruise but I'm glad it doesn't really hurt.
When I do something like that, the bruises always hurt for days and Pretty yells at me... Since I was hospitalized and diagnosed with hydrocephalus, someone from Adult Protective Services calls once a month and asks if I've fallen and gotten visible cuts or bruises since they talked with me last. I don't like it and they tend to want to ask Pretty how I got "damaged", as if she's done something to hurt me. Once, a lady actually came to the house to look at me after I fell and broke my front teeth on the floor. *sigh* She took photos and wrote a report on the injury.3 people like this
@DaddyEvil (176822)
• United States
Just now
@Fleura I'm glad you cleared any other rocks out of that area.
I think one of the nurses reported elder abuse when I was in the ER. I kept having memory gaps when I was trying to explain what happened. While memory gaps are part of hydrocephalus, we hadn't gotten that diagnosis yet.
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (138746)
• Marion, Ohio
12h
Glad it's not painful. Sounds like something I would do
3 people like this
