I've had items fall on me from the overhead bins -- usually nothing too heavy but twice they were heavy items and one of those times the bag owner(s) responsible for it falling on me didn't even apologize or ask if I was ok. Definitely a risk of sitting in the aisle -- a growing risk given recent free baggage allowance adjustments have been announced that will encourage even more and heavier carry-on items.
Originally Posted by
abmj-jr
Glad your child is ok - and hopefully your wife, as well. I've actually had this happen to me a couple of times. I am pretty paranoid about it and have managed to catch a heavy carry-on bag on one occasion and a case of wine on another when pax attempting to stow them over my head completely lost control. Since those occasions, I have made it a point to be very, very alert during boarding.
Sounds a lot like what happened to me too, except my head and shoulder did the catching.