A disabled woman fell into a pothole and had to be taken to A&E with a suspected broken ankle, putting a painful end to her first family outing since fighting off Covid.
Sally Philburn had been enjoying weekend sojourn to Flamborough, a village on the Yorkshire coast, on Sunday, January 23, when calamity hit.
After taking in the seaside air, the Barnsley mum, who suffers from the painful musculoskeletal condition fibromyalgia, returned to the carpark where her electric mobility car was charging with her husband and son, Yorkshire Live reports.
By this point Sally said it was "pitch black", and when her son who was walking in front of her moved out of the way, she fell into a concrete ditch.
The family had plugged their car in at St Nicholas Street car park and headed to a nearby café for a cup of coffee while they waited for the car to charge.
But when they returned to the car park just after 5pm, the family claim it was "pitch black" and Sally said that there was "absolutely no lighting" in the car park, which is when she claims she fell and seriously hurt herself.
She told YorkshireLive: "It was about 5 o'clock-ish, so it had just got dark and we'd walked through the car park and we were coming back to the car. My son was in front of me and he'd moved out of the way and I fell into a pothole.
"As I fell into the hole my husband caught me and, if not, I'd have probably broken my arm.
"We went back to Barnsley and I got a taxi to our A&E, they said it's so swollen they can't tell yet whether it's broken."
Sally said that, despite being in "agony" she'd had no choice but to drive her family home from Malton, as her husband does not drive and her son is not yet old enough.
"Luckily we have an electric car so I was able to drive home, as I didn't need to use that foot to drive", she said.
But Sally's husband, Phil, had been close to calling for an immediate ambulance as he was so worried about his wife.
He said: "[It could have been] Avoidable really, that's what is a pain. I caught her or she would have been on her face. The carpark was pitch black.
"She drove back to Barnsley in immense pain, then [got a taxi] up to A&E."
Sally, who already struggles with her mobility, said that she now "can't put her foot to the floor at all" and said that her foot looks misshapen.
She said: "I had an issue with my other ankle, so it's now my best ankle that I've just broken.
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"I wish I'd stayed in now. I've just got over Covid and this weekend was my first trip out, we'd just gone out for the day and we'd gone to see the Flamborough Lighthouse, so I'd managed all the slippy ground there and then fell in a car park.
"My husband said he could fit his whole foot in the pot hole and he's a size 12."
Phil said that Sally is now off work without pay, waiting until she is well enough to return to work.
Ryedale District Council declined a request to comment.
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