Praise for hospital after horror accident

A TOWN councillor has praised NHS staff for their 'first class care' after a horrific accident left her needing surgery and more than 50 stitches.

Newton Abbot town councillor Marie Jenkins, 29, suffered injuries to her right arm and forehead after stumbling down a step and falling through a glass door.

The Liberal Democrat badly gashed her arm after the accident at her parents' Abbotskerswell home. She had to take a month off work.

The accident happened when she went to her parents for dinner.

She said: "They have three steps that go down from the main house into their extension.

"I can't really remember what happened, but I must have lost my footing and fallen forward through the glass. It was safety glass so it didn't shatter, but it broke.

"All I can remember saying to my dad is 'I think I need an ambulance'."

She was taken to Torbay Hospital by ambulance and underwent surgery to remove damaged tissue and to stitch her arm wound.

She also needed butterfly stitches to her forehead for less serious cuts. She stayed in hospital overnight.

Marie, the councillor for the College ward, said: "I have spent the last month recovering and I've been to Newton Abbot Hospital three times to have the dressing changed. The staff have been so friendly and they have all got to know me."

Fortunately, her wound healed well and she returned to Torbay Hospital for the stitches to be removed.

She is now back at work — she works for Armed Forces Minister and North Devon MP Nick Harvey — but wanted to speak publicly to express her thanks to all the NHS staff who looked after her.

She said: "The care was absolutely faultless. I have never had anything like that happen to me before. It was such a shock, but staff at both hospitals were great.

"After it happened, and I was in accident and emergency, I was hysterical. I really scared about it because the wound looked awful.

"Everyone was reassuring and they talked me through every stage of what they were going to do.

"During my aftercare visits to Newton Abbot Hospital, they were always really welcoming.

"The care I received from both was first class."