Pensioner overturns and ends up trapped under scooter after hitting pothole

A widow was seriously injured after her mobility scooter ran into a pothole and fell on her.

Pat Lowe, 88, is the latest victim of the scourge of potholes plaguing Britain’s roads.

The granny, who lives in Gloucestershire, was left with blood gushing out of her wounds and a ‘huge flesh flap’ torn off her arm after the accident earlier this month.

While taking her dog out for a walk, the mobility scooter ‘nosedived’ into a large, water-filled pothole as she moved back onto the road after having let a car pass.

She plunged down and her scooter landed directly on top of her, leaving her screaming for help in the dark.

Pat, who used to work for the NHS before running her own office supply company for 30 years, said: ‘I had to pull into side of the single track road – because a large Range Rover-type vehicle was coming towards me

‘There was no passing space for him to get past so I very slightly went onto the verge.

‘I got myself sufficiently off the road and gave indication he could go past

‘I was attempting to get back onto the road again and I did not see this particular pothole one was as deep as it was. We’ve had a lot of heavy rain and they are all filled with water.

‘My buggy nosedived upside down with me underneath it.

‘I was left with a very nasty wound to right elbow and spent five hours in hospital on a Saturday evening.’

She said no one could hear her screaming for help as she believes neighbours were watching the Six Nations rugby.

Pat managed to release herself from underneath the heavy scooter and get herself home some hundred yards away while ‘crying my eyes out.’

When blood began to drip onto her coat, she realised the seriousness of the fall, and one neighbour came to try and clean the wounds.

Pat’s children, two of whom are doctors, told their mother to go straight to the A&E after seeing pictures of her injuries on WhatsApp.

Her wounds could take months to heal.

The grandmother of eight added: ‘The injury could have been lot worse and nothing was broken. It was a very deep wound though and they were unable to stitch the flap back on as it was too swollen.

‘It was a horrendous experience. I was just on a routine walk with my dog that I do most days.

‘A neighbour, who has lived here all his life, said the road has not been resurfaced since 1949. It is so sad how this has happened but not a surprise. The road is in such a dire condition – it is wall-to-wall potholes.

‘A lot of them I call two-storey, which is a pothole going down from a pothole. Some are four inches deep.

‘Someone occasionally comes and paints around them – to emphasise where they are. We have had so much rain in recent months they are filled with water so you really have no idea where they are. When the road is covered by mud filled water it is horrible.

‘It’s by far the worst I’ve ever seen it.’

Pat, who is considering taking legal action, claimed only the pothole she tripped over was treated following the accident, adding that the road is so riddled with potholes ‘you can not move for them.’

Joe Harris, a cabinet member for highways at Gloucestershire County Council, said an inspector was sent out to check the road after Pat’s incident was reported on March 16.

He said he was sorry to hear about what happened and that a highways manager would be making contact with Pat.

‘Our highways teams are working flat out and are continuing to deal with the impact of the winter weather, so please bear with us while we fix the most urgent cases,’ he said.

“We’re committed to improving the quality of roads in the Forest of Dean and across the county.’

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