A long-awaited family holiday had to be cancelled when a grandmother tripped on a loose paving stone in Leatherhead High Street.
Pauline Burgess, 67, and husband Ken 68, were to join 10 family members in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh but had to drop out when Mrs Burgess fell and broke her pubic bone on August 9.
Mrs Burgess, from Fetcham, Surrey, said that her family were really disappointed but left for the fortnight’s break anyway.
The couple are furious that the loose paving stone, ‘an obvious hazard’ was left in the road and will be claiming compensation from Surrey County Council.
Mrs Burgess was angry because people had mentioned the loose paving stones in the high street before but she felt that the council preferred to waste money on other things. She said that her neighbours had told her ‘not to let it go.’
After the incident, Mrs Burgess was helped to a bench by two passers-by, and started to lose consciousness, which upset grandson Nathan. Mrs Burgess said that she was upset about him being so distressed, and that he had been crying because he had ‘thought she was dead’.
One of the passers-by helped her to call her husband, who ran a mile from their home to get to her. Mrs Burgess was then taken to the Royal Surrey Hospital, near Guildford, and subsequently transferred to Leatherhead Hospital where she was kept in for intensive rehabilitation for a few days. She is now taking prescribed painkillers and is expected to be back on her feet again in about six weeks.
The couple thanked the people who came to Mrs Burgess’ aid, and the ambulance staff.
Hubert Lewis-Carr, chairman of the Leatherhead Residents’ Association, said: “There is a lot of disgust about the state of the high street.
“Some years ago, it won worst high street in Britain, which it didn’t deserve, but it called attention to the problems and a lot was done. But now I think it’s beginning to slip back again.”
