Napier woman breaks leg but avoids amputation after flooding accident

Maree Cameron needed to be carried into City Medical Napier after dislocating her ankle and breaking her tibia and fibula. Photo / Supplied

A Napier woman broke her leg in two places and narrowly avoided the amputation of her foot after a stack of wooden sheets fell on her during the city's deluge.

Maree Cameron, along with her son Bryce, moved a pile of 20 wooden sheets out of their flooding garage, before the wood fell on to her foot, causing "immense" pain.

Bryce lifted the stack of wood enough to free his mother's foot, before driving her to City Medical Napier.

A nurse assessed Cameron in the car, where it was decided a security guard was needed to carry her into the building.

She had dislocated her ankle and broke her tibia and fibula. She was given pain relief, but was sedated to have her ankle put back into place.

When asked to rank the pain on a scale from zero to 10, Cameron said "it was way over that".

"If it had been any later in the day, we might not have got there as it felt like the water was seeping into the car," she said.

A stack of 20 wooden sheets fell on Maree Cameron while she tried to move them out of her flooding garage. Photo / Supplied

Medical director Dr Umang Patel was able to sedate Cameron and manipulated the ankle back into alignment.

Patel said the injury was "very serious".

"We essentially created a hospital ward to keep Cameron in overnight and monitored her pain relief, until an ambulance could safely take her to Hawke's Bay Hospital once the flooding had subsided the next morning," Patel said.

Meanwhile Patel's neighbour had driven Cameron's daughter-in-law home and returned to help transport patients to where they needed to go.

"It was heartening to see the community pulling together in a time of need," Patel said.

Cameron, who is awaiting surgery on her ankle, said she couldn't fault the care she received.

"Everyone's been amazing, the nurses and Dr Patel – he's my hero. I'm very lucky I didn't lose my foot."