The event has occurred in reality. Jonas is actually called something else.
One early morning I was going to repair a church roof with a colleague and my best friend. The roof was steep, so we worked with rope access methods, which we had done several times earlier in the summer. Besides, I had climbed a bit in my spare time, so I felt safe and comfortable to do the work. A little tired and hungry after a late-night maybe, but it was nothing unusual.
I prepared the work up on the roof while my colleague prepared on the ground. When I was done, I would disconnect from the fall protection system on the roof, and connect to the system that was supposed to take me down — a manoeuvre I have done many times before. But this time I got it wrong.
Suddenly I fall backwards. No rope catches me, I hit the roof and start to slide down to the edge. Then I fall to the ground and land next to a tombstone. In retrospect, I think it could have been my own.
Even though I was awake during the whole fall, I did not remember what happened. I probably asked my colleague ten times when I was lying there on the ground, but could not take in what he said. My toes and fingers could move, so I felt a certain relief when the ambulance helicopter picked me up. All in all, I had such incredible luck and got away with a concussion and an injured lung.
The time after the accident, I was in shock. I especially remember one evening with my friends by a lake - we had made a fire at sunset, and everything was incredibly beautiful, but I felt utterly empty. As if part of me was gone.
And when I got back to work, I was scared. My pulse was high, and I felt the stress throughout my body. My self-esteem and self-confidence were at the bottom. But the most challenging part was seeing friends and colleagues working at high heights when I was standing on the ground myself. I kept thinking that something could go wrong.
My story is not just about the importance of using fall protection. It is about a lack of judgment and respect for the risks in our job and the consequences it can have. A pilot does not go to a party the day before a flight but makes sure to be prepared in the best way possible. So why should we who work at high heights not do the same? A small mistake can be the difference between life and death, so it is essential to get to work in good shape, take risks seriously and make sure you have the right education.
/Jimmy
There are lots of reasons to use fall protection, and all of them are good. Fall protection allows you to work safely and efficiently, and if you fall, you will survive, without severe consequences. The choice is yours, but why take a chance? Wear fall protection.
