Normally, Ridgefield Mayor Ron Onslow spends the holidays with his family. But this Thanksgiving he was in a hospital bed with a fractured rib and a collapsed lung.
Three days before the holiday, Onslow fell off a ladder outside his house while hanging Christmas lights. Onslow explains he put the ladder in an unstable spot, and it tipped over when he leaned in a little too far while reaching for the top of the doorway.
“When I reached, the ladder came down, and I T-boned the side of my body — my chest side — on a rock wall,” he said. “I crawled in the house. I couldn’t breathe very well. It didn’t even dawn on me I might have a collapsed lung.”
When Onslow got inside, he called his wife, Sandy Schill, who urged him to get to the hospital. Initially, Onslow tried to tough it out, telling her he’d broken ribs before, and there was little a doctor could do about it.
Then, Schill came home and saw the damage.
“She took a look at me and said ‘You are going to the hospital. You are swelling up,’ ” he said. “Next thing I know, I had doctors all around me doing X-rays and CAT scans.”
After a three-day stay at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, Onslow returned home to rejoin his family the night of Thanksgiving. He left the hospital expecting to spend the next two months recovering.
Three weeks later, he’s still dealing with some soreness as he works his way through rehab. Onslow does breathing exercises, which help him stave off pneumonia.
“You’re supposed to take it somewhat easy and not lift a lot,” he said. “They want you to breathe deep and cough, which is painful.”
That day in November wasn’t the first time Onslow had to go to the hospital this year. Less than two months before his 76th birthday in September, he had back surgery to remove a small bone that was pinching a nerve in his lower spine.
Onslow recovered from that surgery, and the pain is gone. Since the fall, he’s noticed people seem to be looking out for him.
Shortly after leaving the hospital, one of Onslow’s 13 grandchildren finished putting up the lights on his house. And four neighbors stopped by to make sure he stayed off the ladder.
“I have to laugh at myself, you know. Everyone seems to be vigilant about me not going up on ladders. I’ll leave it to the young guys.”
