No relief for woman’s injured arm after she trips and falls
Woman who fell and cracked bones in her left arm, claims her fall is due to neglect from the Ekurhuleni Metro.
Geduld resident Chantelle Beyleveld (39) recently tripped and fell to the ground in front of her house, injuring her left arm in Second Avenue.
Her arm was hurting so much and she screamed for help, but because no one heard her calling, she had to get up on her own.
“I eventually managed to pull myself up,” she says.
Chantelle claims she fell due to uneven paving and the darkness in their street.
She says the street lights have not been working for nearly nine months.
Chantelle went to the Far East Rand Hospital’s (FERH) emergency room after the incident.
After going for X-rays, she was allegedly told both the radius and ulna bones in her forearm were cracked.
With only muscle relaxants and painkillers given to her, she left the hospital.
But her hand was so badly swollen that she could barely sleep that night.
“The tablets didn’t help to ease the pain in my arm, therefore, I decided to go to a pharmacy to get help from the pharmacist,” says Chantelle.
She is angry at the metro because of the streetlights being out of order and at the staff at FERH for not properly treating her.
“We have reported the street lights to the Ekurhuleni Metro since October last year, but nothing has happened since then,” she says.
Another Second Avenue resident Martie Cooper (44) also fell at the exact same spot where Chantelle fell and also blamed the metro’s lack of street lights.
There were several other residents also claim they reported the streetlights to the metro for months on end.
However, they never reported the complaint to the call centre, therefore there is no reference number to follow up on the complaints.
Metro spokesman Themba Gadebe says metro officials are investigating all street light bulbs in Springs.
According to FERH spokesman Hendrik Buda, Beyleveld visited the accident and emergency unit on July 10 at 8pm.
“Beyleveld was seen by a doctor who diagnosed the injury on her left elbow and hand and she was immediately send to the X-ray department where it was confirmed there was no bone fractures,” he says.
A pain injection and medicine were given to Beyleveld and she was discharged.
“We would like to advise Beyleveld to come back to the hospital if she is still in pain,” says Buda.
