i was once out of action for a few days because something 'went' in my back. My main worry was that I was in the loft and DD was downstairs on her own, aged four. I couldn't move much but managed to get onto my hands and knees and with forced calmness explain to her that I needed my phone which was in my handbag which was hanging up in the cupboard under the stairs and was out of her reach! She managed to get a chair to stand on but said she it wasn't there! I calmly through gritted teeth said try again.
Long silence
Next thing I knew she'd climbed up the loft ladder with it.
me having kittens while she went down the ladder again.
Called my neighbour, who was at home, thank goodness, and came over. She told me to call 999. They asked lots of questions, including about my breathing, then sent an ambulance. The paramedics got me down or rather, I got myself down with two large paramedics there to help me, and onto my bed. They checked there was nothing serious and left, as did neighbour with DD for the rest of the day, though she did call me intermittently.
After a while I was able to move about enough to make cups of tea, go to the loo etc. I had been digging the nursery school garden for a week. It was hard Oxfordshire clay. I expect my muscles had got over tired and I had strained something, plus there is always some inflammation in my lower spine from arthritis.
Afterwards I learned that neighbour's big, strong, cricket-playing husband had been at home all the time. He could have come and saved me a 999 call!
Except he couldn't, because of his religion, apparently, help an unrelated woman. That was the excuse his very embarassed wife gave anyhow 
.
Or maybe he'd just never been a boy scout.
Anyway, the person on the end of the 999 line was wonderful and so were the paramedics. There was no huffiness at all.
