Just a few lazy Sundays ago, I was invited to attend a wonderful Sunday brunch at a friend’s house in Sanur. I was obviously not the first to arrive and parking was a bit of an issue. All the other silly people had parked street side, flattening their cars against a wall, which was extremely dusty and risked having their vehicles scratched or dented by passing cars and bikes. Not me! I had just washed and polished my pride and joy so I decided to park in a nice quiet spot just across the street under the shade of some trees. Thank goodness my host’s gardener was more astute than I.
“Better not park there Ibu” he said. “Just look up, it could be dangerous.”
One big ripe bunch of coconuts was enough to convince me that dusty street side was a much better idea. I’d rather a bit of dirt than have my car or myself hit by and airborne missile!
Coconuts are in season all year round, and along with the gusty trade winds they can pose a serious risk which is often over looked by expats and locals alike. It takes me back to a few years ago when a staff member asked for time off to attend the funeral of a relative killed by a falling coconut. Then, while placing offerings at the site of the accident, another member of the family was killed in the same way! Now what are the chances of that happening?
Just last week the Bali Post reported another death by falling coconut. But it doesn’t seem that any reliable statistics are available on how many coco-deaths actually occur each year in Indonesia. I doubt that many of these cases are actually reported, which makes it difficult to ascertain the real risk.
A coconut can weigh from two to four kilograms (8.8 lbs) and fall off 25-meter (80 feet) trees with the kinetic force of one metric ton. That is, with the speed of about 80 kilometers an hour. That’s a really serious dent in your car and a killer blow to your skull!.
Some studies claim that as many as 150 people per year worldwide are killed by coconut trees; either by being hit by a coco-missile or by the person falling from the tree itself. According to George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File housed at the University of Florida, coconuts kill about 150 people a year—that’s 15 times the number of deaths attributed to sharks in the year 2000.
According to injury-prevention expert, and former director of medicine in Papua Professor Peter Barss, the most frequent cause of hospitalization in the remote Melanesian villages were tree-related, not shark-related.
Barss believes that the death-due-to-coconut rate may be even higher than Burgess states, since many fatalities happen in remote places, where there is no proper death reporting system. This would most certainly be the case in Indonesia.
The best way to avoid injury of course is always prevention.
- If you have coconut trees on your property, make sure you have the nuts cleared before they pose a risk.
- Don’t take shelter (or park your car) under trees heavy with coconuts.
- Don’t climb coconut trees (especially after a few glasses of red!). There are expert coconut tree climbers available to do this for you.
Kim Patra is a qualified registered nurse and midwife who has been living and working in Bali for almost 20 years. She now runs her own private practice and medical referral service from her Kuta office. Kim is happy to discuss any health concerns with you and she may be contacted via e-mail at info@chcbali.com or Hp. 081 2366 0000.
