11:01am Friday 22nd January 2010
By Michael Black
A Craven district councillor is asking village hall bosses for compensation after she was injured slipping on ice after a parish council meeting.
Patricia Fairbank, a Conservative councillor from Bradley, near Skipton, has confirmed she has instructed solicitors to make a negligence claim after she suffered multiple compound fractures to her right leg in an accident in Bradley Village Hall car park.
The 74-year-old, of Raines Drive, was so badly injured in the fall, two years ago, that she still cannot walk unaided and cannot wear normal shoes.
Bradley Village Hall committee secretary, solicitor David Binns, said investigations into the circumstances of the accident were continuing, but would not confirm whether trustees intended to defend the claim.
The village hall is run by a charity, which almost broke even in the last financial year. Its income was almost £6,500. Coun Fairbank paid tribute to friends and neighbours who had rallied round her since the early-evening accident after a Bradley Parish Council meeting.
“Solicitors are dealing with a personal injury claim on my behalf, but I don’t want people thinking I’m money-grabbing or a horrible person,” said Coun Fairbank.
“I know the thought of someone claiming compensation really winds people up and a lot of folk are really greedy these days, but this accident has really interfered with the quality of my life.
“I don’t want people thinking I’m feeling sorry for myself or that I’m whinging, or feel hard done by, because I don’t. “I broke my right leg in loads of places and my leg’s been pinned, but I may have to have more treatment. The bone was sticking out about two inches.”
Coun Fairbank now has to walk with the help of sticks or a Zimmer frame. “I can’t bend my foot or kneel down to light the gas fire. It’s silly things like that which make my life difficult,” she said.
“I’ve never broken a bone before and it’s ironic but, just before the accident, I was bragging that I had never had a fall in my life.”
But she said there had also been welcome consequences to her accident.
“I live on my own and have no immediate relatives. I couldn’t have received better help if they had been members of the best family in the world,” she said. “I can’t believe how kind people have been and I don’t want them to think I’m moaning.”
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