SPOKANE, Wash. – Ice or snow-related injuries have been common since Wednesday due to the snow storms across the Inland Northwest.
NonStop Local heard from numerous people on social media about their injuries.
“So, when my dad pulled my sock down, all we saw was a huge dent. And… we said ‘we’re going to the hospital right now.’… emergency room… [we] found out it was an open fracture, and I had to go through surgery,” Juniper York, a nine-year-old who was injured sledding in Manito Park on Saturday, said.
62-year-old Lisa Heimbigner-Moore broke two bones in her wrists in her right hand.
She slipped on ice while walking on an unsalted sidewalk in downtown Spokane.
“I just completely fell and slipped… My husband couldn’t stand up either. He was trying to help me… it didn’t even appear icy or anything,” Heimbigner-Moore said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 1 million Americans are hurt annually from falling on ice and snow. These injuries are deadly for about 17,000 people each year.
A spokesman for Providence Sacred Heart says one of the biggest concerns the healthcare system sees is the increased danger of traumatic brain injuries, such as concussions, during the winter.
