A young woman who suffered horrific injuries when she plunged 40ft from a fourth-floor balcony during a party has miraculously taken her first steps since the fall. Sophie Bracken, 23, broke her back, pelvis, legs and shattered her ankle in 30 places after landing on a concrete pavement.
She'd been celebrating a friend’s birthday when she opened the window of her pal's fourth-floor apartment to get some fresh air. But she got too close to the edge and lost her balance before falling 40ft onto the pavement below, landing on her back, in the early hours of Sunday, September 4.
Her screams for help were eventually heard by a taxi passenger who got the driver to pull over and help. Doctors feared Sophie would be permanently paralysed due to the nature of her injuries.
But now, 12 weeks after the fall, she has taken her first steps at home in Bradford, West Yorkshire, and spoke of her ordeal for the first time. She said: “Due to the trauma and stress, I think my mind has blocked out a lot of the pain and feelings I had at the time.
"I remember hitting the ground and feeling my back break. I remember worrying more about my family and how I was going to get in touch with my mum, rather than my injuries."
Sophie was first taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary, and then to Salford Royal, which is home to Greater Manchester Major Trauma Centre (MTC). As she lay in hospital coming to terms with her life-changing injuries, all she wanted was her mum.
But her mother, Rachel Clapman, 60, a nurse at Bradford Royal Infirmary, faced a six-hour return journey via public transport and couldn’t afford a hotel. Rachel slept on hard benches, a windowsill and plastic chairs in the hospital so she could stay by Sophie’s side.
She even got moved on by hospital security in the early hours of the morning as she didn’t want to leave her. Sophie added: “The moment mum got to me, was a sense of comfort. I had a feeling that everything will be OK, even though everything wasn’t OK.
"Having my mum there impacted my recovery in such a positive way. I don’t think I could have got through it without having my family with me. The care I received was fantastic. I was lucky to be in one of the best hospitals in the country.
"But once you leave the nurses on the ward, you do feel on your own and that you have to put things in place yourself."
Rachel was put in touch with charity Day One Trauma Support, which provided financial help so she could stay at times in a nearby hotel during Sophie's five weeks in hospital. Sophie added: "It was great that we had Day One to help us, and I felt better knowing my mum had someone to support her.
“Anybody could find themselves in my situation and in need of help from Day One. That’s why I would encourage anyone to donate to Day One and help them be there for other people like me.”
In addition to the small grant, the charity also provided emotional support and put the family in touch with other organisations that could help once Sophie left hospital.
Rachel said: “Sophie may be 23, but all I wanted was to give my baby girl a hug and tell her everything will be ok. When Carley at Day One told me how they could help us, I was overwhelmed.
"The emergency funding came at the right time. It meant I could stay in Manchester. I was able to give Sophie so much more support, knowing I only had a six-minute bus ride back to the hotel.
“If Day One hadn’t have been there, it would have been a different story. It would have been harder for Sophie, but 10 times harder for me. I think it would have played heavily on Sophie’s mental health and her recovery too.
“Sophie still has a long way to go. But the support we continue to receive from Day One is making such a positive impact on her recovery.”
The charity, which gets no government funding, provides support to trauma victims left with serious injuries from the likes of road crashes, stabbings and falls. Kirsty Christmas, fundraising manager, said those hit by major trauma were struggling to cope during the cost-of-living crisis.
She said: "This will only get worse over the festive period. That’s why we need help so we can be there for them, from day one and for as long as it takes.
"Surviving trauma is just the start. We believe no one should be left to rebuild their life on their own."
Visit dayonetrauma.org/donate to make a donation to the charity.
