[lelandfe]

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6502774/

There’s a real dearth of info around coconut fatalities. This 1984 paper examined a 4 year timespan of all trauma-related admissions to one hospital in Papua New Guinea. 9 of them (2.5% overall) stemmed from coconuts. In 3 of the cases, all children, the patients slipped into coma.

From what I’ve read elsewhere (no good links, sorry), coconut injuries worldwide seem to have fallen significantly due to better harvesting practice - the age of a coconut and their chance of falling appear to be linked. While I can’t find a good paper saying this, I do buy it.

So, perhaps not 1:5000, but (at least at one point in time) definitely a risk.