A clubber will need pins and plates in her arm after she broke her elbow tripping over a cycle lane marker. Samantha Skene was on a night out in Middlesbrough when she tripped over the marker, which she couldn’t see in the dark.
She now faces the prospect of being in a cast for weeks and struggles to do simple tasks such as cooking and cleaning. The 27-year-old, who described herself as “the most sober of the group”, was crossing Linthorpe Road to help a friend get out some cash.
But she didn’t spot the cycle lane marker and tripped over it, falling and shattering her elbow. Samantha then had to wait around seven hours for an x-ray at James Cook University Hospital, which confirmed the break, Teesside Live reports.
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The Middlesbrough woman says she will now need pins and a plate in her arm, arguing that the cycle lane should have poles along the road as opposed to the smaller markers, so others don't trip over them as she did. Last month, a Middlesbrough Council spokesperson said the cycle lane has been designed and added to the town "in line with national safety guidelines and schemes in other towns and cities" and will continue to be monitored.
Samantha, who was on Linthorpe Road for the popular midweek Mixtape event, said: "One of my friends needed to get cash out because they don't pay by card and because I was the most sober of the group, I decided I would walk with her to the cash point. It's where Iceland and Tesco are.
"We went across the road at about 11.30 pm and I didn't see the last barrier at the end, and I just tripped over it and my elbow went full smash on it. I just didn't see it because it was so dark - at night, you can't see them. I was crossing diagonally where the lights were and I literally tripped on the last one."
When Samantha landed on her elbow, she said she was "hyperventilating" and knew that "something wasn't right." She explained: "The pain - I couldn't breathe properly. It's obviously a busy road, even at 11.30pm, and luckily two strangers ran up and picked me up with my friend to get me sat down. My friend calmed me down and we went to go get help.
"She thought I had just hurt myself really badly, and that I was just having a panic attack. She said it was like when you hit your funny bone and you have more of a reaction. She managed to calm me down and then [the pain] started dropping down the side of my arm and I couldn't lift my arm up by itself, I had to use my left arm to pick it up."
When she arrived at James Cook University Hospital, Samantha said it was really busy due to a crash that had occurred on the same night. She said she was there for around seven hours before she was seen to, adding: "When I got an x-ray they said I had shattered my entire elbow and part of my elbow is away from each other where it shouldn't be.
"From the surgery, they said it is about six weeks to heal. They are going to put a plate and some pins in, and it is basically going to push my elbow back together. Then the cast will be able to let it heal. I'm actually right-handed, and that's the elbow that I've broken."
While resting, it's often the usually simple tasks that she finds tricky to complete, explaining: "It's more just cooking, cleaning, trying to put clothes on. I can't even tie my hair up. The simplest things are just gone."
Samantha said she has had to take time off work from her job at the Empire nightclub, where she works in the cloakroom on a Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. She said the room is a "small little box" and therefore there were too many health and safety risks for her to continue working with her injury, but that the Corporation Road club had been "helpful and really supportive."
It's not the first time in the last month that the cycle lane has caused issues for pedestrians on Linthorpe Road, with OAP Dorothy also tripping on the "hazardous" marker leaving her with black eyes and broken wrist. The 78-year-old also suffered a "nasty gash" to her forehead, multiple bruises, and even a mild concussion from her fall in September.
The cycle lane, which Middlesbrough Council said was expected to be completed by the end of last month, was approved so that cyclists could have a "quick and safe" route into Middlesbrough. Construction cost between £1.3m and £2.4m, and was funded by the Tees Valley Combined Authority alongside cash from the government.
Samantha said even before she tripped over the marker, she thought it could prove a danger, adding: "When it first got put up, me and my mum both said that someone is going to fall over it. I get why it got built, but further down, they have got poles as the barrier and I just don't understand why they can't have poles throughout."
In September, a Middlesbrough Council spokesperson said: "The Linthorpe Road cycle lane has been designed and implemented in line with national safety guidelines and schemes in other towns and cities. Nevertheless, the scheme will continue to be monitored and we would recommend people use designated road crossing points which are located at frequent intervals.”
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