Baying for some common sense

SEVERE bruising . . . Norma Stankard after the fall

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A CONCERNED daughter has hit out at "selfish and ignorant" drivers after her elderly mum took a tumble while attempting to navigate her way around an illegally-parked car outside her home.

Norma Stankard (77) suffered severe bruising to her face following the incident in Chadderton and was taken to A&E at the Royal Oldham Hospital.

The Bickerton Court resident, who has arthritis in both knees, stumbled and fell while trying to negotiate a high kerb with her walking stick.

The retired cook was taking rubbish to the bin when she discovered a vehicle parked at the ramp she uses. Guinness Northern Counties, which owns the car parking space has "strictly no parking" signs in place and clear yellow-hatched markings to discourage visitors from using the spaces.

A spokesman said no-one could park in the space without knowing it was an emergency vehicle bay but would look to see if anything more could be done to reduce the risk.

Suzanne Stankard (54), from Halifax, said: "I hope I never see the driver of that car.

"I'm angry at how selfish and ignorant people can be.

"There is a big car park around the corner with plenty of space.

"I have visited my mother there for seven years and we have never once parked in that spot.

"It is for ambulances or people in wheelchairs.

"Cars are material things that can be replaced, my mum cannot be replaced."

Norma, who has lived in the sheltered housing accommodation since 2009, had walked out of the main doors of her flat and across the paved area to the lowered ramp.

An area roughly 10m by 12m is marked off with a yellow hatched box outside the main entrance to the flats and there are "no parking" signs on nearby walls.

Norma said: "The car was parked right across the ramp and didn't give me any room to use it.

"There are vehicles parked there every day ­- they do not give any thought to other people."

Suzanne added: "My mother was using her walking stick and tried to lift her foot as far as she could but it didn't reach the top of the pavement and she fell face-down on to the hard pavement.

"She managed to turn herself over and sit on the pavement but she had no idea how to get up."

A neighbour who had seen Norma fall called on another resident to guide her to her flat and alerted the family, who took her to A&E.

Suzanne said: "She got to hospital at 1.30pm and it was three hours and 45 minutes before she was first called by a doctor. It was 7.30pm when we left the hospital.

"The treatment by the doctor was excellent. Though she had a CT scan, doctors said it could be months before any internal skull injuries manifest themselves."

A Trust spokesman said: "We understand Mrs Stankard was pleased with her treatment but we would like to offer our apology to her, her family and any other patients who are waiting longer than expected to be treated.

"Our Accident and Emergency department at The Royal Oldham Hospital is currently under significant pressure.

"Patient safety is our priority and our staff are working extremely hard to triage and treat those critically ill patients brought in by ambulance as a priority and those with serious conditions.

"We are working to improve the situation and aim to improve staffing levels in A&E to meet demand and ensure patients are treated as quickly as possible."

A Guinness spokesman said: "The parking space is very clearly marked as no parking.

"There is no way people could park there without knowing it was an emergency vehicle bay.

"We have passed this on to see if there is a way they can reduce the risk but it is really not very easy to imagine what more we could do.

"We do not like it when people fall over and hurt themselves but there is only so much we can do to prevent it."