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An Auckland shopping centre has apologised to an 86-year-old woman after she was thrown face first to the ground while walking through its automatic sliding doors.
Alexandra Hunt said she was clipped by the doors while leaving the Meadowbank shopping centre after doing some last-minute grocery shopping on Christmas Eve.
"I saw them coming and they just got me on the back and flung me on my face."
While mall management say there are sensors on the glass doors to prevent them closing on people, Mrs Hunt is adamant she was hit with enough force that she was thrown face first to the ground.
She was taken to hospital with cuts to her arm, black eyes, a lump on her forehead and cuts and severe bruising all over her face and knees.
A head scan eliminated fears of serious damage and Mrs Hunt has since returned home, where she has been visited by a district nurse for bandage changes.
Mrs Hunt said she had received an apology from the mall manager but would like to see changes made to prevent others being hit by the doors.
"I think the door perhaps should be left open during the busy times."
Mrs Hunt rejects the suggestion that she tripped, saying she was definitely hit in the back by the doors as she walked through with her walking frame.
"I know it's an accident but I think somebody should do something about it.
"Somebody could crack their head - I've got a big lump on my forehead like a coconut."
Her account is backed by another pensioner, 78-year-old Eva Kruse, who said a similar thing happened to her in June, when she fell after being hit by the same doors.
"They are extremely dangerous, I broke my right arm," she said. "I was traumatised after it for months. It really was a bad fall."
Mrs Kruse said she complained to Foodtown, which is where she had been shopping, but the firm said it was not responsible because the doors were part of the mall.
She has never received an apology and now avoids going to the Meadowbank centre unless necessary.
Mrs Kruse said the problems with the doors had nothing to do with age or frailty.
"It's nothing to do with the elderly people at all. I know she [Mrs Hunt] is vulnerable because she has got a walker but there is absolutely nothing wrong with me. I wasn't even rushing [when it happened] because I wasn't in a hurry."
Commercial Property Managers managing director Stephen Sampson, whose company manages the Meadowbank shopping centre, said he was not aware of the incident involving Mrs Kruse.
He had, however, been told about Mrs Hunt's accident and was concerned about what happened, although he suspects she may have fallen while trying to avoid the doors - rather than being hit by them.
