An elderly Seaforth man remains in a critical condition at Royal North Shore Hospital following a serious ladder accident at his home on Thursday afternoon.
The 79-year-old resident fell approximately three metres from a ladder onto concrete at a property on Ponsonby Parade around midday on 18 September, suffering significant head injuries that left him unconscious.
Emergency services launched a major response to the incident, with four NSW Ambulance crews, including Intensive Care Paramedics and NSW Ambulance Inspector Christopher Peck, rushing to the scene. The CareFlight Rescue Helicopter was also deployed, landing at nearby Balgowlah Oval on Pickworth Avenue just after 12.15pm.
Paramedics from the local Balgowlah Ambulance Station were first on scene, discovering the man had fallen backwards from the ladder and struck his head. The CareFlight specialist aeromedical team, comprising a trauma doctor and critical care paramedic, were transported to the accident site by NSW Police Traffic and Highway Patrol officers.
Due to the severity of his injuries and his unresponsive state, medical teams were concerned the man may have suffered spinal or internal injuries in addition to the obvious head trauma. He was stabilised at the scene with assistance from the CareFlight medical team and placed into an induced coma.
The patient was transported by road to Royal North Shore Hospital in an Intensive Care Ambulance just after 12.45pm, with NSW Police providing a green-light corridor to ensure the fastest possible journey to definitive care.
The incident highlights a concerning trend affecting older Australians. In Australia, 80% of hospitalisations due to injurious ladder falls are male, according to Stay On Your Feet Australia. People aged 65 years and over are hospitalised the most with injuries from ladder falls, with 4,000 Australian seniors hospitalised each year from ladder falls.
The source incident report noted that in NSW alone, more than 1,500 ladder injuries requiring hospital treatment occur annually, with over 100 meeting major trauma criteria. More than 90 percent of those injured are males, making falls from ladders one of the more common causes of serious traumatic injury for men over 50.
Published 18-September-2025
