Like many seniors, 93-year-old Dorothy Roberts’ life changed when she started falling. One day she was bending over to pick up a book from underneath her television stand, and when she stood back up again, she lost her balance and fell over backwards.

“Thank goodness my daughter was here when that happened,” she says. “I don’t know what might have happened.”

Thankfully, Roberts wasn’t seriously injured in the fall, just some cuts and bruises. She chalked it up as a freak accident, until three days later she took another spill while trying to open the fridge, and her life began to change.

“To fall twice in one week like that,” she says, “I was scared.”

Roberts began to doubt her own abilities to get around and she found herself leaving her apartment at Willow Manor seniors’ home less and less. She was scared she would fall, and maybe the next time she wouldn’t be able to get back up.

“At this age, you just don’t heal that easily,” she said. “The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

Her plight is common for many seniors.

The B.C. Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport estimates more than 30 per cent of older adults in communities and half of all nursing home residents over age 65 will experience at least one fall every year.

The province now has a seniors population in excess of 630,000, and that number is expected to double within 20 years.

The ministry expects the number of falls among those aged 65 years and over to double by the year 2032, as the seniors population continues to age.

Many seniors restrict their activity once they begin to experience falls, and that can lead to depression and a shorter life span.

Falls also pose a financial drain on the province’s health care system.

According to the B.C. Ministry of Health, fall-related injuries cost close to $200 million every year.

But Roberts is determined not be among the statistics, and a simple trick from an unlikely source has helped her eliminate her falls.

She calls it her “fighter’s feet,” and she learned it from former professional wrestler “Big Thunder” Gene Kiniski.

“He’s my baby brother,” Roberts says with a proud smile.

Kiniski is a legend in the ring, having won numerous world championship titles during his 40 years as a pro wrestler. Staying on his feet is a skill he has long since mastered.

Earlier this year, Kiniski introduced his fighting stance to his big sister. By standing with her feet a shoulder’s length apart in a wide stance with one foot in front of the other, she is able to better keep her balance.

“That’s the way you should stand if you don’t want to get knocked down,” Big Thunder told her.

And Roberts hasn’t fallen since.

“I feel a lot more confident now,” she says. “I’m not afraid to get up and go for a walk.”

Although it is an easy adjustment to make, Roberts says it took her while to incorporate into her everyday life. Thankfully she had her son Art around to nag her.

“I made her write lines,” says Art. “Y’know, it seems really obvious, but when you’re so used to standing one way, with your feet together, for your whole life, it takes a while to change.”

Roberts has since shown the simple little trick to all her friends at Willow Manor, and she says everyone there is experiencing fewer falls.

“When you get older, you have to adapt to your age,” she says. “I write things down now to help me remember, and now I stand differently.”

Fall stats:

• 33 per cent of older adults living at home fall each year;

• 85 per cent of injury-related hospital admissions in seniors are the result of falls;

• 90 per cent of hip fractures are the result of falls;

• 20 per cent of seniors who suffer a hip fracture from a fall die within one year.

A few other simple steps

More than 200,000 B.C. seniors experience falls every year, with many resulting in serious injury, or even death. But a few simple steps can help reduce the risk:

• ensure stairs are in good repair, free of clutter and have a non-skid surface;

• report all slip and trip hazards in public environments to their local municipality;

• place frequently used items in easy-to-reach places and store heavy items in lower cupboards;

• ensure that all rooms, stairs and balconies are well-lit with non-glare lighting;

• make sure that there is always a clear path from the bed to the bathroom;

• and keep steps and walkways in good repair, free of snow, ice and leaves.

In March, the federal and provincial governments announced the establishment of the Centre of Excellence on Mobility, Fall Prevention and Injury in Aging at Vancouver General Hospital, as well as a first-of-its-kind web course to better educate health care professionals in B.C. For more information on the course, go to www.injuryresearch.bc.ca. For more information on the Centre of Excellence on Mobility, Fall Prevention and Injury in Aging, go to www.hiphealth.ca/Home.htm.

Private in-home senior care firm Nurse Next Door is offering free home safety assessments to local seniors from Nov. 23-27 as part of their fall prevention program.

“We are making the lives of local seniors safer by checking their homes for typical fall hazards,” said Carol Lange, owner of Nurse Next Door in Maple Ridge.

“Our goal is to offer this free program to 100 seniors in our community and help ensure that none of these individuals end up in the hospital this winter due to a preventable fall.”