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by Nathan Rao
A pensioner says she was left looking like she had been “in the ring with Mike Tyson” after falling on a damaged footbridge.
Tilly Probyn says she tripped over a piece of wood nailed to the bridge over Richmond Park Canal while walking her dog.
She was left shaken with cuts and bruises after the fall last Wednesday.
The bridge near Nursery Close, Sheerness, was damaged. The wood was nailed over a missing slat as a temporary repair.
The grandmother of two said it was dangerous, claiming she is lucky not to have been seriously injured.
“I am absolutely furious,” she said.
“I look like I’ve been in the ring with Mike Tyson. I am still aching all over.
“I was scared, shocked and frightened and I didn’t know what injuries had been done.
“It was very dangerous and I am furious the bridge was left in this way. I could have been seriously injured. I am very grateful to the staff at Minster Hospital who patched me up.”
She was found lying face down by friend and fellow dog walker Rosie Angrave.
Miss Angrave, 40, said she heard a thud, looked over and saw Mrs Probyn, of Jefferson Road, Sheerness, had fallen.
She rushed to her aid and thinking she was unconscious phoned the emergency services.
Miss Angrave told her not to move and to wait for paramedics to arrive. She was patched up at the scene and taken to Minster Hospital.
She said: “It was very scary and upsetting to see Tilly like that.
“We have been walking our dogs regularly and go over the bridge every day. I dropped her off at home after taking her to the hospital and I was fine but then it hit me how shaken up she was.
“She was very hurt and really shaken up.”
A spokesman for Swale council said reports that the bridge had been vandalised were received by the council at about 4.30pm on Friday, May 15.
A temporary repair was ordered that afternoon. A full repair was done on Thursday, May 21 but in the meantime the temporary repair had been vandalised.
The spokesman said: “We take repairs very seriously, hence the speed in which we addressed the initial damage, but unfortunately we are always fighting irresponsible vandalism.”