A 54-year-old vet’s receptionist came inches from death after a nightmare accident that left her impaled on a rotten wooden chair.
Jackie Stride, from West Sussex, was tending to jobs on her backyard farm when she noticed the chair — which has decomposed leaving a spike exposed.
In an effort to protect her roaming goats from the dangerous sharp edge, she kicked it over, to lay the spike on its side.
But in doing so, she slipped and toppled onto the spike, which cut through her upper right leg, just above the back of her knee.
Initially thinking the wood had just ripped through her trousers, Ms Stride, limped back indoors and made herself a cup of tea before seeking medical attention.
Worried her mischievous goats Crunchie, Goldilocks and Wisp could injure themselves while jumping on a wooden seat Jackie Stride, 54 resolved to remove it.
The mother-of-two was checking in on the trio last month when she saw a part of a wooden chair her husband had made for the animals had rotted away, leaving a large spike exposed
On the fourth attempt Mrs Stride slipped and was sent over the top of the spike, twisting and falling so that her right leg unluckily came on top of it
It was only when her husband David, 69, returned home from walking the dogs that she discovered the extent of her injury.
David took a photo of the wound to show her what she’d been unable to see herself: a three inch gash.
Upon seeing the image, Mrs Stride suddenly felt faint, and she was quickly rushed to Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.
Medics who assessed her found the wound was almost as deep as it was wide.
They cleaned it but were worried there could be hidden splinters and, given the wood had been used in an animal paddock, were concerned about the possibility of infection.
So she was that day whisked away to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton to see a specialist and that next day have special surgery to clean any tiny debris that entered her leg alongside the stake.
It was only when her husband, David, took a photo of the wound to show her what looked like a 7cm gash just above the back of her right knee that she realised the extent of her injury
Upon seeing the image, Mrs Stride suddenly felt faint, and she was quickly rushed to hospital where she eventually had surgery and got eight stiches to close the wound before being sent home
But, after two nights in hospital, she was back home with eight stiches in her leg.
Recalling her initial injury Mrs Stride said: ‘Part of it (the chair) had rotted away and broken off, which then left this great big point.
‘Originally it was rounded and the bits along the other side of it had obviously rotted and fallen off and there was this horrific great big sharp point.
‘I looked at it and thought they could get impaled on it but I never thought for one minute I would impale myself on it.
‘I was trying to protect my goats really. It was really scary at first.’
Even now, on the mend Mrs Stride said she is still shocked at how little the original injury hurt.
Despite being injured in the line of duty, Mrs Stride said the goats were completely oblivious to her distress and injury she had suffered for their sake
The mother of two, pictured here with husband David, said she was lucky to still be here as falling forward onto the stake would have risked hitting a critical artery
‘I still can’t believe it really, how little it hurt because if you saw a picture of it you would think that must be absolutely excruciating but it honestly wasn’t,’ she said.
Despite being injured in the line of duty, Mrs Stride said the goats were completely oblivious to her distress and injury she had suffered for their sake.
‘Those goats had no idea, they were happily grazing, jumping up the fence and trying to get brambles like they do in their own little world,’ she said.
‘Ordinarily they would be all over me, they’re like dogs really they follow you everywhere but on this occasion obviously they were more interested in the brambles and the grass, the little rascals.
They weren’t really grateful, they didn’t even lift their heads up actually.’
She is currently using her husband’s mobility scooter to get around and acknowledged that on, the whole, she has had a lucky escape.
‘I feel incredibly lucky because if I had fallen forwards instead of backwards it probably would have gone straight through my femoral artery in which case I wouldn’t be here now.
‘It was absolutely a lucky escape. If you hit your femoral artery there is no coming back from it.
‘And I could easily have slipped forward easily and it probably would have gone straight into my groin.’
