When I fell down the nephew's stairs and broke my knee cap, I also busted my head against the wall opposite of where I fell. Tests showed no damage to my head! Wow, that's amazing because I hit it hard. The kneecap break was "clean" so it healed with a cast from foot to top of thigh for 2 months, than a smaller cast so that I could do some PT.
Then on a walker for months. Had to get the leg to bend again. Miraculously it seems it does bend normally now, and is as strong as the other. My head...well, it's always been a little "off" (LOL)

I'm glad, too, that you didn't fall. I've almost fallen several times. It's scary and leaves me weak-legged and shaky. Last time I twisted my back and pulled a muscle in my side/back. That was probably more painful than just taking a tumble because I was in my bedroom on a carpeted floor.

I always take my cane with me when going out but use it mostly to just steady myself and keep my balance. Oh, and so people won't think I'm drunk!

B2Y, Very glad that you are OK. Maybe you do have a little foot drop?

Mocha & Mariel- I've been thinking about wearing an old bicycle helmet when I go to the basement (thru the trap door). The floor is concrete and the walls are stone. If I fell on the steps going down, It could be lights out.

So, fashionable stickers on helmets?
ANN

Good grief, Ann, I would not be going down to that basement! I have considered renting a house my son owns in Seattle (my childhood home) but I could not go down to the basement to wash clothes. I would be safer taking the load a couple times a week to the laundromat. The stairs are steep and I could not carry stuff up and down anyway. There used to be a "lift" in that home but it's probably stuck now after so many years ( a lift for firewood). I hope you are not carrying stuff up and down from the basement. That's the real danger, the reason I fell at nephew's house. At my son's present home I hang on the bannister with two hands and go down sidewise, placing each foot carefully before lifting another one. I can't carry anything. The grandkids are mobilized to carry whatever is needed. And I never hesitate to ask.