Woman who fell under train to sue
A woman is planning legal action against a rail company after injuring herself when she slipped on a station platform and fell under a train.
Sarah Jacques, 26, a legal secretary from Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, suffered a fractured pelvis, bruised rib and damaged coccyx, and has been in and out of hospital since.
Miss Jacques says ice on the platform at Elstree and Borehamwood caused her to lose her footing and fall on to the tracks as she prepared to board a train.
She was trapped with her legs under a train as the driver prepared to leave the station.
Only the prompt action of other commuters on the train, who pulled the emergency cord, averted what could have been a horrific accident.
Miss Jacques, a City worker, had used the station every day for eight years until her accident in January last year. She said the past 13 months had been "a nightmare".
"I still haven't recovered," she said. "I still have bruising and swelling on my lower back and have had numerous physiotherapy appointments for my back, hip and neck, but nothing has worked."
She claimed the platform had not been gritted - although she says that a man was seen after the incident gritting the spot where she slipped. Two other people are believed to have slipped shortly after she fell, but neither was hurt.
"Now there are ice detectors up on the wall and notices on the train, as well as warnings to mind the gap between the train and the platform - all of which they didn't have at the time," she said.
"It took an accident like mine for these measures to be installed. I nearly lost my life - it's disgusting."
Miss Jacques said she had not been on a train since: "I have to keep taking substantial time off work, which they are being really understanding about, but I am constantly worrying and have even started looking for a job closer to home - which will mean less money - to solve my travel issues."
Thameslink said the train operator was aware of the incident but that no claim had been made against it.
A spokesman said: "We will respond in the usual way should one be made."
