An elderly woman said she 'has been through hell' after slipping in a Nottingham supermarket. Valerie Simpson ended up with a broken pelvis after the incident at Morrisons, on Leen Drive.
The 73-year-old has spoken out over the ordeal which she said 'has spoilt' her Christmas and birthday - having to "crawl everywhere". It has been a few months since the incident and Ms Simpson said she is "a lot better" - however she feels very strongly about the incident which happened on October 6 last year.
Speaking to Nottinghamshire Live, she said: "I just finished up my shop and went down to the pet food aisle, and there was nobody on it.
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"A gentleman saw me go. I sat up myself and saw that my hands were glistening - so I think it was oil. And, in effect, two cleaners sat me down in the aisle, and asked someone to bring me a kilo of ice cubes because I had a lump on my head.
"So this lady working there wanted to put that on my head in the middle of the aisle. I said 'no', and I told them that I have a lump on my head, but that it does not hurt. My bottom and my back were hurting."
Ms Simpson claimed there was no sign to alert her of a spillage. She said she expected to be taken to a medical room - but instead, she claims she was sat in the aisle for around five minutes.
The staff opened up a till for her, and she then asked if they could call her a taxi as she was struggling to walk because of the pain. I said, 'I could not walk because it really hurts', she added. Once she got home, however, her son-in-law took Ms Simpson to the drop-in centre at the Ilkeston Community Centre.
"I had a seizure there. I was white, my legs would kick in. I was sick while I was there", she recalled. "And the doctor called me an ambulance straight away. They took me to QMC in Nottingham.
"I was very bad for about ten days and then, I went to another drop-in centre, and they said they think I broke my pelvis", she added. She said she underwent an X-ray at the City Hospital in Nottingham about a fortnight after the incident.
She said that she has since spent £80 on a wheelchair, and paid £40 for her each 15-minute long session with a chiropractor. She also had to pay for someone to walk her dogs because she could not move.
Ms Simpson is still doing physiotherapy to try and recover from the incident. She said she has taken the issue through the lawyers before, but that she was "dismissed" by Morrisons.
"I have lost five months of my life", she added. "It has spoilt Christmas, it has spoilt my birthday because I could not walk - I was crawling everywhere. I was lucky because I had my daughter - but what would have happened if I was on my own? What would have happened to my dogs?
"I am not 40 or 50 - I am 73. And all they could offer me was a pack of ice. I feel like I have been dismissed. I lost about half a stone - I just did not want food. I have been through hell."
She also said that she will avoid shopping at Morrisons again. "I'll stick to Tesco", she added.
A Morrisons spokesperson said: "We were very sorry to hear off the customer's fall and our customer service team are in touch with her directly."
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