A DISTRAUGHT mother fell down an open drain while holding her baby daughter.
Kerry Hawthorne was submerged almost to her waist as she struggled to protect 11-month-old Rihanna from the fall.
But the baby’s head struck the pavement as Miss Hawthorne landed on top of her, near to the family’s Dorchester home.
She frantically called an ambulance as Rihanna’s eyes went heavy and a lump appeared on the back of her head.
Miss Hawthorne, 32, said: “I told them what happened and they came straight away.
“The paramedics checked her over thoroughly and said she was ok.”
The incident happened when Miss Hawthorne was showing friend Kelly Golding her new car in a parking area behind her Magna Housing Association home in Eddison Avenue.
Miss Hawthorne, who is also mum to Lexi, two, Liberty, four, Courtney, nine, and Jordan, 12, did not see the hole because it was covered with leaves.
Miss Hawthorne said: “I didn’t know what was going on but my main priority was Rihanna.
“It was slow motion and I vaguely remember trying to keep her head off the floor.
“I literally crawled out of it and I was just covered in mud, but I was more worried about Rihanna. She went all heavy eyed. Realistically I could have killed her.
“Lexi was walking around too so it was lucky she didn’t go down.”
The mother-of-five, who lives with partner Matthew Wason, suffered dizziness and the following day had painful joints.
Friend Mrs Golding, 32, said: “She fell forward with the baby in her arms and she was literally on top of her.
“I grabbed Rihanna, who was screaming. There could have been needles or glass or anything down there.”
Rihanna’s grandmother Susan Hume, of Tillycombe Road, Portland, was left furious.
She said: “It should be covered up so no one else goes down it, not just for Kerry’s sake but any other person who goes up there.”
Miss Hawthorne said workers from Dorset County Council checked the area after Ms Hume complained.
She said: “The council came the next day and just put a cone over it because they didn’t know who owned it.
“A county council spokesman said: “We put a cone over it to make it safe, really just exercising a duty of care.
“We didn’t know if it was public highway or privately owned until we got there, but it doesn’t belong to us.”
The area is the responsibility of Magna Housing Association.
Head of building services Trea Murphy said: “We were very sorry to hear about what happened to Ms Hawthorne.
“We weren’t aware that this road gully was uncovered until it was reported to us.
“As soon as we knew, we went to Eddison Avenue to check it out and make it safe with a temporary cover.”
Miss Hawthorne added that Magna had now given her a bunch of flowers and she wanted to thank them.
source: dorsetecho.co.uk
Personal Injury Claims
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