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Hairdresser leaves looking like Mike Tyson punched her

A woman looked like she had been “in a fight with Mike Tyson” after falling from a “defective” paving stone. Hairdresser Tracey Hornby, who was taking a break from her salon, took a painful fall when she tripped over an uneven slab while on her way to post a letter.

The incident resulted in him sustaining a seriously injured face and a broken eye socket. “I went to drop off some mail that had been accidentally delivered to my salon and before I knew it I fell flat on my face,” said Tracey, from Middlewich. “It all happened so quickly. I fell and then heard a bang.”

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The 45-year-old owner of the central Colorz salon was rescued by a local worker who had witnessed her painful fall. “I was dazed and couldn’t see or lift myself so I was quite worried as I had a lot of blood in my eyes. The workman helped me to my nearby salon and said he was a first aider and was helping to clean up off my face,” Tracey said.

She was taken to Northwich Infirmary by her mother, where she received treatment and pain relief. “I was in excruciating pain. They cleaned my face, gave me steristrip butterfly stitches and discharged me.”, reports Cheshire Live.

She found it strange that, despite the severity of her injuries, no x-ray was taken. “I thought it was a bit strange, but because I was in so much pain, I just wanted to go home.” However, after her pharmacist noticed her condition the next day, she was advised to seek a second opinion at another hospital.

She continued, “My face looked like I had done rounds in a fight with Mike Tyson.” Tracey sought help at another hospital, where an X-ray immediately revealed a fracture in her eye socket. She reported the dangerous paving stone to Cheshire East Council online and returned to the street to photograph the mistake.

A friend, whose partner works for the council, visited her and, shocked by her injuries, also reported the defective stone. Despite marking the paving stone with blue paint, the council says the error was not fixed until weeks later.

Tracey claims her area is littered with uneven paving stones and has urged Cheshire East Council to make more urgent repairs before someone is seriously injured. Tracey added: “Luckily I’m quite fit and active but it still left me with a broken face. I dread to think what would have happened if it had been an older person who had fallen instead of me. Next time someone could be seriously injured in a fall.”

“People need to be aware of these dangers on their streets. I am living proof of what can happen. The roads and sidewalks around here are bad. I fell on a defective brick. The council needs to take this problem more seriously and take their measures.” Put on your socks and start fixing the sidewalks.”

In an effort to prevent others from being injured in similar incidents, Tracey has contacted sidewalk accident specialist Express Solicitors, who are currently investigating her claim. Lawyer Magdalena Smacka, whose firm handles hundreds of sidewalk damage claims every year, said: “Tracey was just going about her daily business when she fell and shattered her face. Her broken eye shouldn’t have happened. Municipalities need to do a better job of maintaining their sidewalks and protecting pedestrians.”

A spokesperson for Cheshire East Council responded: “I am very sorry to hear about the injury Mrs Hornby suffered while walking through Middlewich. We take the maintenance of our highways – including footpaths – very seriously and carry out inspections, both as part of programmed checks and measures and responding to inquiries from the general public, on a regular basis.”

“We always encourage any resident who believes there is a safety issue relating to footpaths in the borough to report it to the council in the first instance, using our Fix My Street self-reporting facility.”