A Sandwich woman who fractured her back in a car accident is concerned care at an east Kent hospital has left her worse than before.

Anna Wheeler, 24, of Hazelwood Meadows, Sandwich, was taking part in physiotherapy on advice from her consultant at Kent and Canterbury Hospital.

She said: “I was riding the bicycle and doing stretches with a ball at the base of my back and it kept clicking and I said it’s really hurting.

“I asked for a scan and there were so many things wrong from my neck down to my hips. I’ve got spasms in my legs and my knees are going a bit. I just wanted to get it sorted. I thought after three months of wearing the back brace it would be OK.

“The consultant said I was healing and I would be able to go back to work but it’s not the case.”

The scan revealed that the lower part of Miss Wheeler’s spine has collapsed and she also has a slipped disk which is causing her a lot of pain. She is now on 200mg of morphine a day.

She added: “When I was first at QEQM and asked about my condition they said the worst case scenario is if I had a collapse of my spine – and now it’s happened.”

Miss Wheeler was driving along the A256 Sandwich Road when her car skidded and became submerged in flood water with her trapped inside. Passenger Arron Dale managed to free her and she was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother Hospital in Margate for treatment.

She fractured her back in four places and Miss Wheeler, a popular carer at Helping Hand Care Company, Worthington Street, Dover, was concerned she would never be able to go back to work.

Now she says she may have to have multiple operations on her spine.

She believes her consultant sent her to physiotherapy too early, causing more damage to her spine, and has now been referred to specialists at King’s College Hospital in London.

A spokesman for the East Kent Hospital Trust said: “We are sorry to hear that Ms Wheeler did not receive the care she and her father expected. We are fully investigating Ms Wheeler’s care and will be responding to her shortly on our findings and any actions we will be taking.”