my father's "falling tombstone" accident
My 86-year old father was visiting his parents' graves in a cemetery in Clifton, NJ on September 15, when his father's gravestone toppled over, landing on and injuring his leg. The result was 4 bone fractures, muscle damage, and skin damage on his lower leg.
In the last 9 weeks or so, he has had 3 surgeries, and spent his time alternately in either the hospital or a rehab center. My father is a strong person, both physically and emotionally, and is doing pretty well despite these physical challenges. (He fled Nazi Germany in 1938 at the age of 18, started a family business in 1946, and ran it with his brother until about 2 years ago. Until the accident, he had never been hospitalized.)
During the past few weeks, I have done some internet research and have found reports of other such accidents. I have not found any statistics in the US, but in Great Britain, between 1982-2003, 12 such accidents were reported, 5 of them fatal. As a result, a nationwide campaign was initiated in the UK in 2003 to assess the stability of all gravestones, and repair all that were found to be unstable.
When my father told the orthopedist who is treating him that I had done this research and that my guesstimate is that these accidents happen about 30-50 times a year in the US, the orthopedist told him that 3 weeks ago, he began treating another patient who had leg injuries from a falling tombstone. (I suspect that the recent heavy rains have destabilized the ground and increased the likelihood of these accidents as of late.)
I realize that the number of injuries involved is statistically pretty small, and embarking on a campaign such a the one that was done in the UK might not be "cost-effective" - it seems to cost about $1000 to repair the average monument, and approximately 30% of all stones were considered unstable in the UK as far as I can tell. I have no idea how many gravestone there are in the US (millions?).
Although I think that optimally, the same such effort should be made in the US to protect the public, at the very least, signs should be posted in cemeteries alerting the public to the situation and advising people to:
1) keep their distance from the stones, and especially, keep small children away (4 of the 5 UK fatalities involved children) and certainly do not lean on them or jiggle them
2 )report any leaning or otherwise suspicious-looking stones to the cemetery owners/administrators
3) be sure that the graves of their loved ones are being attended to, not just aesthetically, but also safety-wise
4)ask the cemetery administration what they are doing to keep their cemetery safe
I have been told that the legal responsibility for the safety of the stones lies with the family, but I would hope that the legal responsibility for monitoring the safety would be that of the cemetery owners. This issue should also be made more clear to the families, and perhaps the cemeteries should be required to remind them every so often.
That's my soapbox stand for today.
Debbie Walk
because cemeteries should be safe places to visit
In the last 9 weeks or so, he has had 3 surgeries, and spent his time alternately in either the hospital or a rehab center. My father is a strong person, both physically and emotionally, and is doing pretty well despite these physical challenges. (He fled Nazi Germany in 1938 at the age of 18, started a family business in 1946, and ran it with his brother until about 2 years ago. Until the accident, he had never been hospitalized.)
During the past few weeks, I have done some internet research and have found reports of other such accidents. I have not found any statistics in the US, but in Great Britain, between 1982-2003, 12 such accidents were reported, 5 of them fatal. As a result, a nationwide campaign was initiated in the UK in 2003 to assess the stability of all gravestones, and repair all that were found to be unstable.
When my father told the orthopedist who is treating him that I had done this research and that my guesstimate is that these accidents happen about 30-50 times a year in the US, the orthopedist told him that 3 weeks ago, he began treating another patient who had leg injuries from a falling tombstone. (I suspect that the recent heavy rains have destabilized the ground and increased the likelihood of these accidents as of late.)
I realize that the number of injuries involved is statistically pretty small, and embarking on a campaign such a the one that was done in the UK might not be "cost-effective" - it seems to cost about $1000 to repair the average monument, and approximately 30% of all stones were considered unstable in the UK as far as I can tell. I have no idea how many gravestone there are in the US (millions?).
Although I think that optimally, the same such effort should be made in the US to protect the public, at the very least, signs should be posted in cemeteries alerting the public to the situation and advising people to:
1) keep their distance from the stones, and especially, keep small children away (4 of the 5 UK fatalities involved children) and certainly do not lean on them or jiggle them
2 )report any leaning or otherwise suspicious-looking stones to the cemetery owners/administrators
3) be sure that the graves of their loved ones are being attended to, not just aesthetically, but also safety-wise
4)ask the cemetery administration what they are doing to keep their cemetery safe
I have been told that the legal responsibility for the safety of the stones lies with the family, but I would hope that the legal responsibility for monitoring the safety would be that of the cemetery owners. This issue should also be made more clear to the families, and perhaps the cemeteries should be required to remind them every so often.
That's my soapbox stand for today.
Debbie Walk
because cemeteries should be safe places to visit
www.debrawalkdesigns.com
posted by debbie at
8:19 AM
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