Nursery Injury Could Have Been Avoided

Fall in car park

01/09/2008

A nursery nurse who suffered injuries falling in a nursery car park in Hillsborough said today it was an accident waiting to happen. Fiona Denial said she hoped the car park which is used by staff, children attending the nursery and their parents, will now be repaired so no one else will be injured.

At the time of the accident Fiona worked at Osborne House Community Nursery in Hillsborough, Sheffield. She left the nursery for the evening and injured her ankle in a pot hole while walking to her car.

Fiona suffered soft tissue damage to her left ankle and was off work for three weeks. She couldn't walk for two weeks and it was six weeks before swelling went down and she could walk without a limp. She continued to suffer stiffness for many weeks after.

Fiona said: "The car park has many potholes which I believe had been there for many years. Quite frankly it was an accident waiting to happen. I just hope now that the holes can be filled in so that other people don't go through the same pain as I did."

Lynne Parker from the works accident team at law firm Irwin Mitchell said: "Because staff and children walk across the car park it should be made much safer. The task of ensuring the car park is even and pothole free is a simple one and if it had been done properly a painful injury could easily have been avoided."

Irwin Mitchell recovered an out of court settlement of £3,750.00 for Fiona's injuries.