Pulitzer Prize winning reporter and former New York Newsday Editor Les Payne recently had a nasty fall…and didn’t go to the doctor. He’s a man of a certain age so I was concerned. He explained some of his initial thoughts after the incident:

‘I got this;’ I muttered, faithful to race and gender.

What’s the fun of being a black man if you can’t wax stupid about your health issues?

The best advice I ever ignored as an editor came from Derrick Jackson, a vegan reporter who runs marathons.

‘We black men,’ he cautioned, ‘have got to start taking better care of ourselves.’

Sure.”

He had to have his quadriceps tendon re-tied my with a string threaded through a hole drilled in the bone. And the pain? The trauma was compared by his surgeon “to a hand grenade exploding inside the muscle and tendon.”

And he didn’t want to go to the doctor! You guys is it really that serious?

I’ve never enjoyed hearing about somebody getting hurt so much, but that’s a testament to Payne’s storytelling ability.

Find out what else happened in “Recovering From An Ill-Fated Trip Down The Stairs” at blog.lespayne.net

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