- Morag Fisher, 40, also broke both her wrists, her jaw, nose, eye socket and cheek bone – doctors said it was a miracle she didn’t need intensive care
- When her friend found her at the bottom of the stairs after the accident in November he thought she was dead as she was bleeding heavily
- She had to spend 10 days in hospital and is still wearing a back brace
- She has now installed stair gates at the top of the stairs in her house
By
Emma Innes
08:14 EST, 27 January 2014
|
09:23 EST, 27 January 2014
A mother almost died after breaking her back, neck and both her wrists when down she fell down stairs while sleepwalking.
Morag Fisher, 40, was found in a pool of blood with life threatening injuries in the early hours of the morning while staying at a friend’s house.
The mother-of-one also broke her jaw, nose, eye socket and cheek bone, and is now recovering at home from the catalogue of horrific injuries.
Morag Fisher (pictured with her daughter, Olivia) broke her back, neck, both her wrists, her jaw, eye socket, nose and cheek bone falling down a flight of stairs while sleep walking
Ms Fisher, a customer services assistant, has now installed gates at the top of the stairs at her home to stop it happening again
‘When they found me I was bleeding a lot and my friend who used to be a nurse thought I was dead,’ said Ms fisher, from Witham St Hughs, Lincolnshire.
‘The ambulance got to me and took me to the major trauma unit at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham and later that afternoon the doctors said that they did not know how I wasn’t in intensive care.
‘It was a week before I looked at myself in the mirror because my face was such a mess, I just couldn’t bring myself to it. Now, when I do look at myself I feel lucky to be alive and even luckier to be walking.
Ms Fisher had to spend 10 days in hospital and doctors said it was a miracle she didn’t need intensive care
The accident took place in November but Ms Fisher is still having to wear a back brace to protect her spine
‘I have sleepwalked before but
usually I just wander around and then go back to bed, but because I was
at a friend’s house it was unfamiliar and I fell.’
The
mother of an eight-year-old girl called Olivia, added: ‘I’ve
sleepwalked all my life and bouts are unpredictable, but it usually
happens when I’m stressed. My daughter has been a superstar throughout
all of this and if anything she is mothering me.
WHAT IS SLEEPWALKING?
Sleepwalking is walking or carrying out other complex activities while not fully awake.
It usually occurs during deep sleep which is most common in the first few hours after falling asleep.
It is most common in children and most children grow out of it by the time they are in the teens.
The exact cause is not known but it can be triggered by sleep deprivation, stress, fever, alcohol and taking drugs.
If you find someone sleepwalking it is best to guide them gently back to bed rather than waking them up.
Source: NHS Choices
‘I am still wearing a brace for my
back and she helps me with it. She even said that I look like a mummy
again and not a zombie. I have now put stair gates in to keep my house
safe.
‘You hear so many bad things about the NHS but the care that I received in hospital was second to none.’
Ms Fisher’s friend Carl Muggleton, 39, was in bed in his home in Long Eaton, near Nottingham, when he heard her fall at about 5am on November 23, 2013.
‘I woke up to an almighty crash and jumped out of bed and saw her lying at the bottom of the stairs in a pool of blood,’ he said.
‘I knew that she did sleepwalk but never expected anything like this. I tried to stem the bleeding until the ambulance arrived and it wasn’t until it came that I noticed one of her wrists had spun all the way around.
‘I have a very sharp set of stairs and there is not a lot of room at the bottom so she is lucky to be with us today.’
Major
trauma case manager Rohan Revell, from the Queen’s Medical Centre,
said: ‘We can only assume that she went head-over-heels instead of down
on her bum and a lot of fatalities happen this way.
She said: ‘When they found me I was bleeding a lot and my friend who used to be a nurse thought I was dead’
Ms Fisher has now installed stair gates at the top of the stairs in her house to stop herself falling down them
‘When she came in she looked like she had gone ten rounds with someone. We gave her an epidural to address her pain and the spinal injury she had.
‘She still has to wear a back brace like a corset to protect the spine while it heals.
Ms Fisher, who spent 10 days in hospital, is expecting to have her back brace removed in six weeks’ time.
or comment on this article
-
Cockney Kate: Duchess plays Eliza Doolittle in school play
-
Porn star fears her illegal O-sized breasts could kill her
-
Moment Pope releases white doves to promote peace
-
Puppy mill dog walks on grass for the first time
-
Gosselin’s 13-year-old twins go silent on air
-
Kim Jong-Un hails execution of uncle in New Year message
-
23-year-old woman brutally beaten outside night club
-
Lizzy the rescue pup frolicks through the grass
-
American woman ditches Cali to become housewife in India
-
Russian zoo’s new attraction: half-tiger, half-lion liliger…
-
Shocking moment woman hurls herself onto moving train
-
Cyclist punched in sickening bicycle versus Audi roadrage…
-
‘It’s a sad day when our kids can’t even watch the Grammys’:…
-
Police and medical staff document America’s real-life…
-
EXCLUSIVE – Kate Gosselin’s sister reveals they haven’t…
-
Now Kim Jong-Un executes his late uncle’s entire family to…
-
Birds of pray: Doves released in the Vatican as a gesture of…
-
American party girl ditches the cocktails for COW PAT CAKES…
-
Woman killed herself after bombarding hairdresser with…
-
Woman sentenced to 2 days in jail serves 5 MONTHS after…
-
Student, 14, who ‘raped and murdered his teacher FILMED the…
-
Fertility doctor’s son who gave girlfriend abortion pill…
-
Pictured: Hamptons police officer, 31, caught having sex…
-
Mystery woman jumps to her death from roof of Beverly Hills…
Comments (5)
what you think
-
Newest -
Oldest -
Best rated -
Worst rated
The comments below have been moderated in advance.
Karen,
Bedford,
14 hours ago
She needs to put stair gates in her friend’s house, that’s where she had the accident. She probably knows her own house like the back of her hand and wouldn’t have fallen down the stairs. I wish her a speed recovdery.
Sparkle,
Dublin, Ireland,
14 hours ago
wow she was blessed it wasnt far worse
george,
london,
14 hours ago
I’m happy she ha recovered. Maybe she should invest in a toddler bar during the night
highIQ,
west midlands, United Kingdom,
14 hours ago
I fell down the stairs once when my foot slipped and shot up into the air. I landed first with the back of my head on a step then crashed down the rest of the stairs. I passed out for a few seconds. I phoned in sick that day and my manager wondered why I had gone sick as ‘surely don’t you just slide down on your backside, and questioned the validity of my sick day. See here just how dangerous it can be. Managers note!!
Beverly135,
Waltham,
15 hours ago
I just know that negative comments will be coming about what happened to this woman, but sleepwalking is a REAL problem for those afflicted with it. It runs in my family, affecting my sister, one of her daughters, and my daughter. It is a neurological condition, not psychological, although anything that affects your sleep, such as stress, being overtired, etc., can contribute to having an episode. My daughter’s doctor thinks she may have sleep induced epilepsy, and that that is what is causing her sleepwalking. I wish this woman the best of luck in dealing with her condition, and I hope that her daughter has not inherited it.
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.
Find out now