Death by coconuts or tree branches are no joke
Bottom Line: Over the weekend a tragic story of a Boca women in her 20’s, out on her morning walk became news for a terribly unfortunate reason. A live oak tree branch fell on her, resulting in her death. Death by tree branch isn’t the sort of thing we’re used to hearing. Just as many think death by coconut is a joke. There’s a reason many businesses with coconut palms have warning signs. And there’s also a reminder that the craziness of timing can result in the most unlikely of outcomes in an instant. But here’s the thing. It happens more often than you think. It’s only news when it makes the news but that doesn’t make the outcomes any less real. How many people do you think die annually in the US due to falling objects (most commonly from trees)?
The answer according to CDC data...
- Avg. 500
And the peak recorded occurred in 2016 when 646 deaths were recorded from falling objects. Surprised? We have 250 billion trees in the US. Think about that number for a minute. That’s a lot of opportunity for craziness to happen. And it does. For all of the attention and fear of sharks only one death occurred in the US last year via shark bite and only one thus far in 2019. In other words, you’re 500 times more likely to die walking around on land via falling tree stuff than via shark bite. Of course, almost all of us spend more time walking around than swimming but you get the idea. And I’ve seen the potential firsthand. We had multiple coconut palms (we now have just one). The one that’s no longer with us was mature and not so ideally placed above our walkway to the back yard. Several years ago,while walking a large coconut fell not more than two feet in front of me with such force that it cracked on the concrete. Talk about close calls. And earlier this year... Ashley parked a little too close to the one that remains. A coconut fell breaking her headlamp and causing over $3,000 worth of damage to her car. If a coconut can do that to a car, you get the idea. Anyway, there you go. Don’t take life or tree debris for granted. You never know...