'At 85, I Published My First Crime Thriller' Otho Eskin On 3/10/21 at 6:12 AM EST On April 10, 2019, my wife Therese and I travelled to New York from Washington, D.C. where we live for a weekend of museums and theater. After dinner with two friends, we decided to take a shortcut back through a high end shopping mall at Columbus Circle where, at the age of 84, I took a terrible fall and landed face down on the freshly mopped marble floor. Later, I learned that my blood had soaked through my jacket. I have only a hazy recollection of what happened afterwards. My wife stayed at my side as I lay on the floor while our friends called for an ambulance that took me to St Luke's - Roosevelt Hospital Center's emergency room. I was admitted immediately and did not regain consciousness until the next morning. Even then I was in terrible pain. I had deep bruising below my eyes and areas of abrasion where skin had been torn. I was put through a battery of tests and it was determined that I had suffered a concussion and had some bleeding in my brain. There were initial concerns that I might have suffered permanent brain damage.