Bayside Council won’t pay pensioner medical bills after Beaumaris fall
A pensioner who tripped and fell on an uneven Beaumaris shopping strip footpath, breaking her wrist, cracking ribs and requiring two operations, has been denied compensation by Bayside Council. Here’s why.
Inner South
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A PENSIONER who sustained serious injuries after she tripped and fell on the Beaumaris Concourse footpath has had her compensation claim denied by the council.
Helen Hussain said the months following her fall in front of a cafe earlier this year had been an “absolute nightmare”.
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Ms Hussain suffered a broken wrist, cracked ribs, a bruised chin and eye socket, had two operations and had difficulty eating and putting on clothes.
“I was in a lot of pain, I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t drive, I was basically housebound,” Ms Hussain said.
“Dealing with the council made a hard time even worse, they just refused to admit fault.”
Ms Hussain asked the council to reimburse almost $700 in medical bills but this claim was denied.
Infrastructure director Steven White said the council had no case to answer.
“The footpath is inspected on a half-yearly basis and the last inspection, prior to the incident involving Helen Hussain, did not identify any defect,” he said.
“As (the) council has complied with its obligations, the claim was denied.”
However, Steve’s Meating Place owner Stephen Sutherland, whose shop is on the Concourse, said the council “had to take responsibility”.
“People are falling over all the time, a lady face-planted there last week and another broke her kneecaps before that, it happens too often,” he said.
“The council are culpable for anything that happens on the footpath and I think they should come in and clean it up immediately.”
The Concourse will get a major upgrade after the council identified improved “pedestrian safety” as a priority.
Mr White said the work was “programmed to commence in the first half of 2019”.
In the meantime, Ms Hussain, who has abandoned her battle with the council, is hoping her story will act as a warning for others.
“I accepted I was going to get nothing so I decided to forget about it but when I heard of another elderly woman falling and cracking her head I decided I couldn’t forget about it,” she said.
“How many more people are going to get hurt if I don’t come forward and try to get the council to fix the problem sooner than they are planning to?”
A staff member at a nearby medical centre also told the Leader that “many people come in after falling at the Concourse”.
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