This was several years ago. I WISH I had it on video... I'd like to see how I managed NOT to kill or maim myself that day.

I had injured my knee at the time and was on crutches. I had been stuck at home for several days and ended up with a severe case of cabin fever.

I wasn't very used to the crutches, but I was so antsy and needed to be outside, I decided to go visit my friend who lived on the second floor of an apartment building.

I made it up the stairs OK. I visited my friend for a few hours and everything seemed to be normal. Then it came time to leave.

When you are on a pair of crutches and are going downstairs, you have to put the crutches on the stair you are stepping down upon FIRST, then put your feet down. Rinse, repeat until you are at the bottom of the stairs and you'll be safe.

I have no idea what the heck I was thinking when I was standing at the top of those stairs. All I know is I kept the crutches perched at the top of that long, straight stairway and THEN tried to step down. Suddenly I was FLYING downwards - headfirst - in extreme terror. Yeah, I had managed to launch myself forward off the crutches into the potential for some nasty upper body injury.

In a split second, my hands reached out for something, anything to grab onto NOW. Each hand found the handrails which were bolted to the walls on either side and just instinctively grabbed both sides at the same time.

I remember the distinct sensation of the lower part of my body swinging underneath me so that my headfirst fall suddenly became feet first.

Next thing I knew, my butt was plopped perfectly in the middle of the fourth stair from the bottom. My feet were in perfect position on a yet lower stair. My hands were behind me, still clinging to the rails.

Then I saw both my crutches rattling past me on either side as they landed at the bottom of the stairway.

I just sat there stunned, contemplating the fact that I was NOT maimed or killed by my own stupidity.

My friend heard the noise and ran out of the apartment to see what happened to me. I tried my best to explain, but at the time, I hardly had no idea.

Looking back, I'm realizing now that I must have sort of vaulted myself upwards via the shoulders with my stiff arms/hands clinging to the rails, which would explain why there was room enough for the rest of my body to swing safely under me above the stairs.

Eventually I got up, got the crutches and crutched my way back home again... thanking all the greater deities I could think of. Yeah, I got religion for quite a few hours that afternoon.

EDIT: grammar, clarification

TL;DR: Fell off my crutches down a flight of stairs headfirst, then sort of flipped myself in mid-flight like some kind of acrobat gymnast and landed on my butt completely unharmed at the bottom of the stairs, wondering WTF just happened.