KEY POINTS:
Auckland City Mayor John Banks is counting himself lucky after falling headfirst down a flight of stairs in the Town Hall - exactly five years after he injured himself tripping up on the same steps.
Mr Banks was rushing out of his mayoral office on Christmas Eve on the way to a meeting when he slipped at the top of a flight of stairs and hurtled to the landing below.
He whacked his shoulder on the wall as he went down and landed on his head, striking the linoleum-covered concrete floor. Marks from his black suit are still clearly visible on the white wall.
Mr Banks said it was a bizarre accident because exactly five years earlier on Christmas Eve he stumbled running up the same flight of stairs and "wrecked his knee", which had to be operated on.
"I would try and jump three stairs at a time ... I'm always in a hurry, running upstairs, running downstairs and never used the handrails."
In the recent incident, Mr Banks said he made the mistake of racing down the stairwell while carrying a pile of council papers for Christmas reading. He lost his footing and catapulted down the remaining 11 steps.
"Strangely my glasses stayed on but my watch flew off."
Mr Banks feared that with the huge "smack" of his impact with the hard floor, he could well die.
"I thought I was gone ... then the pain started to set in and I felt okay and I could walk."
That was fortunate, as Mr Banks was alone in the "completely dark and eerie" building at 8.30am.
"It was divine intervention ... It's not your time, Banksie, there is still work to be done."
The mayor said he ripped ligaments and tore the rotator cuff in his shoulder, and spent a month over Christmas in agony. He had the "biggest black eye", which drew some quizzical looks at functions.
"It caused quite a lot of interest."
Mr Banks' right arm will remain in a sling, which prevents him from writing, for another three weeks.
Despite the injuries Auckland City's leader says he is blessed, as lesser falls have landed people in wheelchairs for life. He wants people always to use handrails.
"This is not about me. I don't need any sympathy. It's about others ... Never run down stairs and always use the handrail to keep your life on the rails."
Mr Banks has even had new signs put up on the Town Hall stairwells cautioning people to use the handrails. Others had slipped on the same "jinxed" stairs and broken bones before, he said.
"I'm not planning on using that stairwell on Christmas Eve ever again."
