Woman, 54, escapes death after being impaled by wooden chair she ‘kicked out of the way’

A 54-year-old veterinary receptionist was left on the brink of death after a horrific accident in which she was impaled on a rotten wooden chair.

Jackie Stride from West Sussex was doing some work on her back garden farm when she spotted the chair, which had now decayed and exposed a point.

To protect her wandering goats from the dangerous sharp edge, she kicked the tree over, causing the point to lie on its side.

But in doing so she slipped and fell on the nail, which pierced her right thigh, just above the hollow of her knee.

Mrs. Stride initially thought the wood had torn her trousers, hobbled back inside and made herself a cup of tea before seeking medical attention.

The mother of two visited the trio last month when she noticed that part of a wooden chair her husband had made for the animals had rotted away, leaving a large nail exposed

On the fourth attempt, Mrs. Stride slipped and was thrown over the top of the spike, twisting and falling, unfortunately landing her right leg on top

It wasn’t until her husband, David, 69, returned home from walking the dogs that she discovered the extent of her injury.

David took a picture of the wound to show her what she couldn’t see: a three-inch gash.

When Mrs Stride saw the image she suddenly felt faint and was rushed to the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.

Doctors who examined her found that the wound was almost as deep as it was wide.

They cleaned it, but were afraid that there might be splinters hidden in it. And because the wood had been used in an animal pasture, they feared a possible infection.

She was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton that day to see a specialist. The following day she underwent a special operation to remove all the small debris that had come along the stake in her leg.

It wasn’t until her husband, David, took a photo of the wound and showed her what appeared to be a 3-inch gash just above the back of her right knee that she realized the extent of her injury.

When Mrs Stride saw the image she suddenly felt faint and was rushed to hospital, where she eventually underwent surgery and received eight stitches to close the wound, before being sent home.

But after two nights in the hospital, she was back home with eight stitches in her leg.

Mrs Stride told of her first injury: ‘Part of it (the chair) had rotted away and broken off, leaving this large point.

‘Originally it was round and the pieces on the other side had clearly rotted and fallen off and there was this horrible big sharp point.

‘I looked at it and thought they could be impaled on it, but I never thought for a moment that I would impale myself on it.

“I was really trying to protect my goats. It was really scary at first.”

Even now that she is recovering, Ms Stride says she is still shocked at how little pain the original injury caused.

Despite being injured while carrying out their duties, Ms Stride said the goats were completely oblivious to her suffering and the injuries she had sustained because of them.

The mother of two, pictured here with her husband David, said she was lucky to be there because if she had fallen forward onto the pole she would have risked hitting a critical artery.

“I still can’t believe how little it hurt. If you saw a picture of it you’d think it must be horrible, but it honestly wasn’t,” she said.

Mrs Stride said that despite being injured while carrying out their work, the goats were completely unaware of the pain and injuries she had suffered because of them.

“Those goats had no idea, they were happily grazing, jumping over the fence and trying to grab blackberries, like they do in their own little world,” she said.

‘Normally they would come at me everywhere, they are like dogs, they follow you everywhere, but this time they were clearly more interested in the brambles and the grass, the little rascals.

They weren’t really grateful, they didn’t even look up.’

She currently gets around with the help of her husband’s mobility scooter and admits that overall she has been lucky.

‘I feel incredibly lucky because if I had fallen forward instead of backward, the fall probably would have gone right through my femoral artery and I wouldn’t be here now.

“It was definitely a stroke of luck. If you hit your femoral artery, there’s no going back.”

‘And I could have easily slid forward and the ball probably would have hit my groin.’