Mum breaks ankle falling in ballet shoes

Victoria Falcon, from Aspull, had been to her granddaughter’s birthday party but when she couldn’t get a taxi home decided to take a shortcut through Haigh Hall.

But disaster struck when Victoria, who was wearing ballet pumps, slipped on the wet grass and fell down an embankment.

The 34-year-old has spoken out in a bid to warn others about the devastating consequences her split second decision has had in the 11 weeks since the fall.

She said: “It had been raining so the ground was quite wet and because I didn’t have appropriate footwear on I slipped and fell down an embankment.

“I managed to phone a friend who brought his dog down and came and found me but I had to wait a few hours for the emergency services to come.

“The fall didn’t really hurt because of the adrenaline but then it took about three or four hours for the emergency services to come and find me.

“It was quite scary being stuck down there and I started to get quite shivery and cold as it was raining. I kept trying to get up but every time I did I would just fall back down again.”

Victoria was eventually rescued by a mountain rescue team but is still recovery from her injuries 11 weeks later.

“The emergency services were amazing, they did so much for me,” she said.

“It seems so silly of me now looking back to have tried to walk that way in impractical shoes.

“I thought if you break your ankle it takes a few weeks to heal and then you are fine, but I broke it in three places and have only just had the cast off. I still can’t really put weight on it.

“It has started to get me down - I have missed summer and had to cancel plans and days out with my family.”