A grandmother has been hospitalised after suffering a horror fall whilst alighting from a train at Dundee station.
Janet Bellis was travelling to Carnoustie from Wales on Valentine’s Day to attend her grandchild’s christening that weekend.
But whilst disembarking at Dundee, the 68-year-old fell between the train and the platform.
The fall sparked an urgent emergency response and two ambulances and a special operations response team were sent to the scene to assist Janet.
She was subsequently taken to Ninewells Hospital, where it was found she had suffered five broken ribs, a fractured femur and a punctured lung.
Janet said: “We had been travelling all day on the train and had no problems getting on and off (until Dundee).
“They did the usual announcement of ‘please mind the gap’ which I took note of.
“I got to the end of the step and was looking for the handle to grab hold of but I realised there was no handle and this massive drop.
“I couldn’t regain my balance and there was nothing I could do – I just went.”
‘I was in agony’
She added: “I ended up lying on the rails between the platform and the train. I knew I had done something really bad to my leg, I was in agony.
“I didn’t lose consciousness so I was aware of what was going on. Eventually the paramedics came and I ended up in A&E.
“They put my leg in a splint and I went into surgery on the Sunday.”
Over two weeks later, Janet remains in hospital in Wrexham – where she was transferred to by ambulance to continue her recovery.
And she says she is expected to remain there for at least another week before she can return home.
“The effect on me has been devastating, it’s life changing”, Janet explained.
“I had mobility issues before but now I’m going to be a lot less mobile than I was.
“I feel depressed about it because it takes so much longer to recover when you’re older.”
Concerns previously raised
Concerns have previously been raised about the gap between trains and the platform at Dundee station and the safety risk it poses.
Then just days later, a second pensioner told how she almost fell onto the railway line while getting on a service at the station a few months earlier.
Betty Russell, who was 74 at the time, said it was only two passengers grabbing her and hauling her on board train that stopped her from falling onto the tracks.
Now, Janet is calling for more to be done to ensure further passengers are not put at risk.
She said: “I just can’t believe that other people have fallen and they have not addressed the issue. It wasn’t as if I did anything stupid – I’m really careful.
“What I want to do is make sure it never happens to anyone ever again, it’s just awful.
“I would like to get some compensation but the thing I want is to stop other people going through this or something worse.
“The train terminated at that platform but it could have been me who was terminated as well.”
Dundee railway station is managed by ScotRail, who say they aim to make their stations as safe as possible.
David Lister, safety, sustainability & asset director, said: “The safety of our customers and staff is our top priority, and we take any reports of injuries very seriously.
“We were sorry to hear about this incident and hope the customer has made a full recovery.
“We will continue to work closely with our industry partners to ensure our stations remain as safe as possible for everyone using them.”
Conversation