Mum 'lucky to be alive' after freak playground accident

“It was one of those moments where if she’d been slightly in another way, it could have been a lot worse.”

Joel Erickson

2 min read

January 18, 2024 - 11:47AM

Mum seriously injured in freak accident at Adelaide playground

Family Life

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A single mum has been left with horrific leg injuries after a freak accident at a South Australian playground.

Anna Frances-Wood was at a new playground at Keith Stephenson Park in Mt Barker when the limb of a gumtree fell eight metres onto her, narrowly missing her daughter.

Anna was left with a badly broken leg, and was taken to Royal Adelaide Hospital for surgery.

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“I just heard this massive cracking noise, then I felt my leg snap like a twig,” she told 7News.

“I saw (my daughter) being crushed by the tree branch, and she started screaming.”

Single mum Anna Frances-Wood is lucky to be alive after a freak accident in a playground. Picture: GoFundMe

"It dropped at no notice"

Anna had broken her leg in three different places, and may need to learn how to walk again.

“My prognosis is still to be determined as to whether I can walk normally again,” she said.

Witness Gabrielle Borchardt, whose son and husband were also narrowly missed by the branch, said there was no sign the tree was about to go.

“It dropped at no notice,” she told 7News. “It wasn’t looking like the tree was sick or weak, it just went.

“It was one of those moments where if she’d been slightly in another way, it could have been a lot worse.”

The tree branch that fell on Anna and her daughter. Picture: 7News

"This is likely to be a freak accident"

Arborist Marcus Lodge told 7News drastic weather changes can distress trees and cause them to drop limbs, but it is still completely unpredictable.

“Trees don’t fail that often, and they rarely hurt people,” he said.

“This is likely to be a freak accident.”

A spokesperson from the Mt Barker Council said the council was re-assessing the safety of every tree at Keith Stephenson Park following Anna’s ordeal.

Anna with her now four-year-old daughter. Picture: GoFundMe

"I'll need to learn to walk again"

Meanwhile, Anna’s friends have started a GoFundMe to help the single mum cope with ongoing medical costs.

The page says Anna will stay in hospital for an “undetermined” amount of time as she recovers from her injuries.

“I can’t bear any load or weight on my leg for 6-12 weeks, after which I’ll need to learn to walk again, strictly no walking or hobbling,” Anna wrote.

“I’ll be in crutches or a wheelchair. No cast, it’s been removed since having surgery, I’ll instead have a knee brace as my bones are now fixed internally with metal.”

The page states any funds raised will go towards travel assistance to get Anna’s daughter to and from places, mobility aids, physiotherapy, meal assistance, a support worker once Anna leaves the hospital, and any therapy requirements for both Anna and her daughter.