A Renfrewshire mum was left terrified she would lose her unborn baby after falling into a 20ft manhole left with a loose covering.
Andrea Harris was five months pregnant when she accidentally kicked the unsecured covering and stepped into it after the lid “spun round”. The mum-of-five's twin daughters Khloe and Keeva looked on in horror as the incident unfolded, with Andrea rushed to hospital shortly after.
Andrea was relieved to learn her unborn baby girl was unharmed despite her belly taking the brunt of the fall, the Daily Record reports.
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The 35-year-old is now demanding answers after Renfrewshire Council refused to take responsibility for the loose manhole cover.
Speaking about the fall Andrea said: “I was chatting to my twin girls and the next thing I knew I was just hanging there. I’d obviously hit the drain with the back of my foot and the lid has spun round diagonally.
“My arms were hanging over it but my body went down the hole. If it wasn’t for the lid, I’d have gone the whole way down. It’s about 20ft deep with water at the bottom.
“I was screaming and my partner was trying to find me. The kids were hysterical. My baby bump hit the ladder rungs inside the hole.
“Thankfully, my partner managed to drag me out and drove me to the maternity unit to get the baby checked over.
“When we got there, they said I also needed to go to A&E to get myself looked at too because I was in so much pain.
“Thankfully, my baby looked OK but I was to go straight back if I started bleeding or if I started having any shooting pains.
“I was in absolute agony. For days, I could hardly walk.”
The 35-year-old had been dropping off her three-year-old twins with her partner Stuart when the terrifying incident happened in Lochwinnoch last July.
Andrea, who gave birth to baby Rayne in November last year, is now embroiled in an ongoing fight to find out who
is responsible for maintaining the faulty drain.
She said: “It’s a total mystery and it feels like no one wants to take accountability. I’ve been going backwards and forwards with Renfrewshire Council and other organisations for almost a year now.”
Scottish Water and Transport Scotland have said the drain does not belong to them.
A Renfrewshire Council spokesman said: “We’re sorry to hear of this incident.
“As soon as it was reported to us, we secured the area and reported the defect to the relevant authorities who have carried out a repair and installed a new cover.”
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