00:00So we're here in Yew Tree Estate and it comes under Sandwell doesn't it?
00:03It does, Sandwell Council.
00:05Cool and what's your name madam?
00:07Mrs Jean Murphy.
00:08And Jean, you've been going through the walls a bit haven't you?
00:11Just fill us in on the journey you've been through.
00:14There's a path outside your house where right next to a tree
00:18and we know what tree roots can do and it's slabbed rather than tarmac
00:21and the slabs have lifted and you had a fall.
00:25Take us from there.
00:27On the 1st of April I was walking back from the direction of Woolsey Road.
00:33Normal lovely sunny day.
00:35It was actually Easter Monday if you remember.
00:38And as I was walking on the next thing I remember I was lying face down screaming in agony.
00:44The neighbour across the road, a young lad heard me scream.
00:47He came out.
00:49Anthony then heard, my husband heard the commotion.
00:51He came out to see what and the two of them lifted me off the floor.
00:55Brought me into the house, ran for an ambulance.
00:58And we've got a bit of footage where when Anthony came out
01:01obviously the motion kicked in the ring doorbell and there you are on the floor there.
01:07And what had you done to yourself then?
01:09What were the injuries?
01:10When they took me to hospital, first of all they were concerned about my wrist
01:15because obviously my left wrist was in trouble.
01:19But this hand was very painful.
01:20I took the skin and I dislocated those two fingers.
01:24And they sent me down for an x-ray and they found I'd broken my wrist in two places.
01:30And then another doctor came in and looked at my facial injuries
01:35and he said I had to go for a brain scan.
01:37So they couldn't give me any morphine because I had to go for the brain scan.
01:41And when I came back apparently I'd missed my dose of morphine for the brain.
01:47So I spent, that was about 20 past four I think when I was admitted.
01:53And it was quarter to midnight when they set my arm.
02:00And it's not been plain sailing has it?
02:04So you had to have a plate put in your wrist.
02:07Yeah a week later I had to go back to the fracture clinic.
02:10Yeah.
02:10And Mr Blackwell said that the fracture was unstable and that I would need an operation.
02:16That I admit I burst into tears as I was terrified of having a malassetic.
02:21I went through with the operation on the 12th of April
02:24and went to have the stitches removed because I was going on holiday.
02:30Had some butterfly put over to tie me over for my holiday.
02:35Got back and on the 6th of May I noticed my arm had gone bright red and I had an infection.
02:43Yeah.
02:44I was admitted overnight, put on an antibiotic drip overnight, told I'd need another operation.
02:50Which they didn't do, they put me with more antibiotics.
02:55And I've been in pain ever since, constant pain, day and night, not sleeping.
02:59Yeah you've been having to come down from upstairs in during the night.
03:02I'm not sleeping in the same bed as my husband now.
03:05Yeah.
03:05I'll keep him awake and he's in pain with his hips on.
03:08Yeah and the end result you ended up at that plate was going to stay in there
03:14but the pain was just going on and on.
03:16Yeah.
03:16So the doctor said, well hang on, you shouldn't be in this much pain still.
03:20So last week they took the plate out and they realised why you were in pain.
03:25There was a screw loose on the plate wasn't there?
03:26That's right, yeah.
03:28So the slabs are obviously a problem.
03:32I mean we'll, you know, we'll show that on the video that I can see how they're raised up
03:36and it's not just here, it's on a few spots on the path isn't it?
03:38Yeah.
03:39What's been the response of, well the Samwell Council that's responsible for the path,
03:44what have they said about the slabs being dangerous?
03:47First of all I filled in a form for compensation, well first of all I reported the issue
03:54and I've got a reference number for that.
03:57Then I said I'll do a claim, compensation claim.
04:03That's cost me quite a lot of money.
04:05Yeah.
04:06Well we should we should say, I mean this was back in April,
04:08you've not been able to drive have you?
04:10No.
04:10You've had no strength in you, it's just starting to come back a little bit now.
04:14Anthony couldn't, yeah, because he can't drive long distances because he's,
04:17what as I say, he's in an emergency.
04:19Yeah, yeah.
04:20Yeah, I had to pay an extra £161 on top of my insurance so that I could go on the cruise.
04:27They wouldn't let me on the cruise without added insurance.
04:30Yeah.
04:31So that cost me.
04:33I've broke my watch clasp, I had to have that repaired.
04:37I lost my star now to my term tubing, my emerald, I still haven't had that replaced.
04:42And I tore my coat.
04:44Apart from that, there was blood all over the pavement, it was in a bad state now.
04:49But they know the plate's out, the pain is finally easing,
04:53but I've had nine months of constant pain.
04:56So they're saying, yes, well they're saying slabs can be raised,
05:03and obviously you tripped on it, but they're saying it's a certain,
05:06what was the distance before they class it as an issue?
05:09It doesn't meet the criteria, it has to be raised one inch before they repair.
05:15However, they'd sent a copy of a report they'd done back on the,
05:21about three weeks before my accident, and there's something saying 75, which is outside.
05:28I'll show you a copy of the report later, that there was a defect.
05:32In the paving?
05:33In the paving, but in their mind it's not enough to rectify.
05:38And so it's still not been rectified, has it? It's still there?
05:41It's still not been done.
05:43And their answer, finally, when I pursued it,
05:47and Connor Horton's pursued it, and took videos of it,
05:52of the state of the pavement, that in particular, but in the avenue as well.
05:57And now it's affecting my neighbour's drive,
05:59who was also making a claim against the council, which they've done nothing about.
06:04And they, now they're saying that I would be, the letter reads as if I,
06:10it says, if they settled claims, I'd be robbing public funds.
06:16Yeah, so it's almost putting a guilt trip on you, isn't it?
06:20Yeah, as if I'm...
06:20If we have to pay you out, then...
06:22Yeah, you know, you're taking money out of the public funds.
06:26Yeah, yeah. So it must leave you very frustrated that, you know,
06:31you tripped on that slab, which is an obvious trip hazard,
06:33and it's nothing's been done.
06:35No.
06:35You know, you must be kind of livid about it, really.
06:38Well, they're waiting. Now, what they say is, has anyone else fallen?
06:42We're waiting.
06:43Yeah.
06:43I mean, my husband will tell you, when they took me in, he said,
06:47I don't know, you didn't break your neck.
06:48Yeah, yeah.
06:49If they started, the way I fell, I felt completely fire splattered.
06:53Somebody who's less agile than me, would have been more severe, wouldn't it?
06:57Frustratingly so, just round the corner on the estate, where the paths are kind of newer,
07:03they've re-tarmacked all them.
07:05Yeah.
07:05And you cross over the border, just down the road to Walsall,
07:08and you were saying they're all tarmacked as well.
07:10They're all tarmacked in Walsall, yeah.
07:11Yeah. So does it knock your confidence in terms of going out?
07:14Oh yeah, I walk in the middle of the road.
07:16Yeah.
07:16It's mad at me.
07:17Yeah.
07:17I won't walk on the bounds anymore. I walk.
07:19Yeah.
07:20Even the neighbours have noticed, you know, that I'm frightened now.
07:24Yeah.
07:24I'm constantly looking down, you know.
07:26Yeah, yeah. So what would you, what would you like the council to do?
07:32I guess the first thing would be to, if the policy is that that's not bad enough for them
07:37to fix it, I guess you'd like to see that change, wouldn't you?
07:40You know, if it's a trip hazard, it's a trip hazard. You want it to be fixed.
07:43I can't see the difference between three quarters of an inch and an inch.
07:49What's the difference between that quarter of an inch that you wouldn't trip over?
07:52Yeah.
07:52I mean, even half an inch it could trip over.
07:54Yeah.
07:55But you know, it's not just there. I mean, it's all the way down the avenue.
08:00Yeah.
08:00And when they asked me, has anyone else fallen? I don't know.
08:04Well, yeah, they may have, haven't they?
08:05All I know, when I go now for the buses, which I have to go out. If I go for the buses
08:12and people ask me, because I could see my arm was in plaster for a long time, they'd say to me,
08:16um, oh, you know, how did you do that? And I said, oh, I know. Isn't it bad in your avenue?
08:23The amount of people who said that to me.
08:25Well, you've still, you've got your support on there. Is that, look, just a bit, let's have a look.
08:28Yeah. Well, I've still got, um, I've still got stitches to dissolve in my wrist.
08:33Yeah. Cause obviously it was only last Wednesday you had that plate out.
08:36So I've got to keep, I can't, this is another thing you say before this, I was very active.
08:43We do a Latin American ballroom dancing. We go swimming. I swim a mile a week.
08:49We, my husband goes twice a week as a physio, but we, I swim, I do all my own housework,
08:55my garden and everything. Antony's had to shower me because I couldn't get it wet for six weeks.
09:01I've been.
09:01Well, wasn't it, was it, am I right in saying it was affecting your vision as well? You were kind
09:06of headaches and a bit of blurbiness.
09:08Oh yeah, like headaches for weeks after with my facial injuries, it was horrendous.
09:12Yeah. And your vision as well, that would then affect it. Yeah.
09:15So it's true to say you've been through the mill with it.
09:19It's been, the last nine months have been a nightmare. When we came to New Year's Eve,
09:25I just said, I hope next year it's going to be a better year because I've had,
09:30the only good thing that come out of last year was we had a new great-granddaughter.
09:33Yeah. And you've got, you've been left with a scar. We can't see it, but you're very
09:38good with your makeup, you've, on your, on your forehead. So you, yeah.
09:41Just, I think it will fade in time, but I know it's there.
09:44Yeah. I can see it in the light and I don't block it out.
09:48Well, we wish you all the best with your, your coming year and let's hope
09:55something's done about these paths. Yeah. All the best. Thanks for talking to us.
10:00So there's an interesting bit on the, on the letter you had back there,
10:03which you referenced in our little chat, but just read that top line.
10:06Yeah. This was from Alan Lunt, Executive Director of Place.
10:12At Samwell Council. Yeah. Samwell Council. The second paragraph reads,
10:16I want to point out here that it is important that we decide whether to accept liability in
10:21a fair way. If we accepted all claims, for example, whether justified or not,
10:26we would be paying out a lot of money in compensation, money that comes from council
10:31tax and which could be used to pay for essential services. Why we want to be fair to people who
10:37have been injured in force. We also must be fair to all our communities and protect our finances
10:43where it is right to do so. So effectively it's saying, even if you've got, even if you trip on
10:49something and it's a justified claim, it makes sense for the council to not pay you to save,
10:56save, you know, any money. Right. Okay.
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