Disabled woman 'left to get home alone' after falling out of wheelchair

19 December 2023 , 12:58

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Joanna Coles was injured in a fall from her wheelchair (Image: Submitted)

A disabled woman who had hit her head after falling out of her wheelchair in a city centre has complained she was let to push herself more than four miles home at 2am after hospital treatment.

Joanna Coles, 47, was taken to A&E by taxi where her wound was dressed, but when she asked for transport home, she claims Hull Royal Infirmary staff told her to get a taxi. But she said with none around in the early hours she travelled the distance home alone in her wheelchair, arriving home around 90 minutes later.

She told Hull Live: "I ended up staying in bed all the next day because I couldn't get warm." The accident happened after Joanna left the city's Ebenezer Morley pub. She said: "I was heading towards the bus station when my front wheel got caught on something, maybe a kerb, I couldn't see. Next thing I know, I was on the floor with a big graze on my head."

She got help from people walking by and British Transport Police officers. She said they tried to get an ambulance but were told it would take two hours, so they got her a taxi instead. Joanna, who lives by herself, said she asked the hospital staff to watch her overnight because she might have had a concussion.

"Basically, all they did was take the dressing off, look at it, then put a new one on. You'd have thought they'd have kept me in for observation because of my head wound. I have still got scabbing on my face. I had bruising all over my face. I was also suffering from headaches for a few days afterwards too."

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Joanna, who was born with spina bifida and has lost both legs, said that this scary event has made her feel less confident. She feels like she's being told she shouldn't go out because she's disabled. A hospital spokeswoman said: "We apologise if the care Ms Coles received did not meet her expectations. We would encourage her to contact us so that we can investigate thoroughly and respond to her directly."

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Sofie Jackson