PEOPLE who fall over often feel a deep sense of humiliation, it has been claimed.
As ice envelopes the UK there has been a 92% increase in people falling flat on their arses, with many being either deliberately ignored by onlookers or openly mocked.
Professor Henry Brubaker said: “Falling over can be physically painful, but it’s your pride that really takes a beating.
“You can try to laugh it off but that always looks a bit forced. Behind the smile there is despair.”
Professor Brubaker fell over in 2011 at a conference centre, bruising his arm.
“It had a polished floor, there were no grips on my shoes and I went down like a sack of shit.
“Everyone laughed, in fact someone actually said, ‘Have a nice trip mate.’
“All I wanted was a helping hand, a few kind words and perhaps a boiled sweet. Instead I was made to feel like a pariah dog.”
Falling-over charity Falling Up is working to increase empathy towards people who lose their footing.
A spokesperson for the charity: “We’ve made a short film of celebrities falling over, you see George Clooney slip on a discarded burger box. He drops like a shot buffalo, smashing his chin on the edge of a bin.
“The message is the falling over can affect any of us, at any time, and it doesn’t mean you’re a dick.”
