A mum is 'heartbroken' after her daughter lost six fingers in an accident involving a fly-tip.
Kerry Ratcliffe’s daughter Bella, then eight-years-old, suffered the freak accident in April while 'making a den'. The tot had been playing in an alleyway behind the family home on Kestrel Avenue in Clifton, Salford.
Mum Kerry, 34, told Manchester Evening News that Bella was ‘making a den’ when she stepped on a garden table which she says was dumped in the alley.
She said: “Bella was standing on a table, it wobbled, and her fingers came off."
After trying to grab onto a fence to break her fall, Bella lost her digits.
Kerry said: "It's heartbreaking. We heard screaming and a neighbour ran over and then my son pushed me back inside and said ‘she has got no fingers’, then I collapsed.
“She was in Wythenshawe Hospital. She was in surgery for 12 hours to reattach. It did not go to plan.”
Despite Bella, now 9, is ‘adapting really well’ to her changes. She is returning to school in what Kerry says is a ‘massive step’.
But, the mum-of-five says she is ‘still at a loss as to what’s happened’. She has since moved her family to Winton to be closer to her loved ones.
"One day, Bella will have a prosthetic hand", Kerry added.
The full-time-mum is now calling on the authorities to make sure the alleyway — which neighbours claim is ‘hot spot for fly-tipping’ — is secured.
“There’s a private entrance with iron gates,” Kerry said. “They told us that they had cut off the locks. Then it became a hotspot for fly tipping.
“The gates are always open. The neighbours said they have complained about them for years.”
Salford council confirmed the land is owned by ForHousing, a housing association. Its executive director of homes said that the organisation was ‘extremely sorry’ to hear about Bella’s accident.
“The security fence at the rear of the homes at Kestrel Avenue was put in place several years ago after local neighbours raised concerns about anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping in the area,” Nigel Sedman added in a statement. “In April, a neighbour reported that this incident had taken place, and we immediately visited the site to make it safe. We will continue to offer support and work with the local community.”
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