Especially when it's a bit breezy...
From the EDP this evening
http://new.edp24.co.uk/content/news/story.aspx?brand=EDPOnline&category=Ne
ws&tBrand=EDPOnline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED24%20Sep%202004%2013%3A43%3A
53%3A627
or
"Woman rescued after quayside plunge
SUE SKINNER
24 September 2004 16:47
One minute she was cycling along the South Quay at King's Lynn on a breezy
morning. The next, she was lying motionless and face down in mud described as
“quicksandâ€, having toppled - bike and all - over the low wall and fallen a
sickening 20ft.
It was only the quick action of her husband, who immediately scrambled down and
cleared the mud from her face, which saved her from suffocation.
And had the drama happened a short time earlier, when the tide was still coming
in, she would have plunged straight into the river.
As it was, the water was lapping close by as the emergency services united in
today's hour-long rescue of the stricken 65-year-old cyclist, who was in Lynn's
Queen Elizabeth Hospital tonight with spinal and wrist injuries.
Mother and daughter Marie Thorn and Donna Mason were driving along the quay
when the accident happened at about 11.40am and raised the alarm.
Mrs Mason, 27, of Pandora Meadows on Lynn's Fairstead Estate, said the woman,
who lives in Lynn but has not been named, had apparently been hit by a gust of
wind.
“I think she was quite close to the edge and she went over," she said. “If
her husband hadn't been there and nobody had seen her, she would just be lying
there.â€
Ambulance technician David Hirst, who was the first to arrive with his trainee
colleague, Kevin Thurston, immobilised the woman's spine and also administered
oxygen.
An ambulance service spokesman said: “The mud was like quicksand. She was
sinking into the mud - apparently they all were, they were having to help
themselves out. She was also slipping down towards the river.â€
A fire engine, aerial ladder platform and emergency rescue tender were then
sent to the quayside by Norfolk Fire Service.
“It was an awkward incident because of the mud as much as anything, and the
access,†said Assistant Divisional Officer Stuart Horth, who led the team of
firefighters.
“The first thing we wanted to do was obviously to make sure that we knew what
the ambulance assessment of her was and we could then start to plan our
actions. We had the aerial ladder platform on the way which will go below
ground level and also looked for the potential of using a boat.
“We established that the tide wasn't an immediate problem and that we weren't
time critical as far as her injuries were concerned.â€
ADO Horth said the woman, who was conscious, had been transferred to a spine
board before the town's ferry took her to a waiting ambulance in Ferry Lane.
The vessel had gone to the quayside to help out and stood by while the woman
was treated.
“We are very grateful for their assistance,†added ADO Horth. “Our crews
worked very well and did an excellent job, especially in the conditions down
there.â€
John Stone, a paramedic from the East Anglian Air Ambulance, which along with
local coastguards was also despatched to the incident, accompanied the woman to
hospital.
An ambulance service spokesman said: “It was good teamwork. It's lucky that
she was actually with somebody. Obviously it could have been a lot worse." "
I hope the poor woman makes a full recovery.
Cheers, helen s
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