Now that spring is here you might be eyeing your gutters and thinking it's time to climb up and clean them out.

Just make sure your ladder's in good shape.

Acclaimed Vancouver guitarist Paul Pigat learned the hard way what can happen when the routine homeowners' chore goes awry.

Yesterday he posted this message to his 5,000 Facebook friends:

saturday was not a good day. just as i was finishing cleaning the gutters the shitty ass ladder i was using buckled at the struts. fell about 7 -8 feet. went to the hospital yesterday and confirmed what i suspected. 4 broken ribs (all else is fine thankfully). Rib injuries are no fun at the best of times but 4 back ribs is a bit unbearable. got tons of opioids prescribed but really not touching the pain level. i’m out of commission for a while

Pigat--who was interviewed by the Georgia Straight for a feature story in January--has received an outpouring of sympathy for his suffering and hundreds of wishes for a speedy recovery. We at the Straight also wish him well and hope to see him back on his feet, a-pickin' and a-grinnin', as soon as possible.