Pain of drain- Kathleen Davies is calling for the Shire of Yarra Ranges to fix a dangerous dra

By Tania Martin
KATHLEEN Davies never expected that crossing the street would cost her so much, but it has.
The 77-year-old Olinda woman recently tripped and fell in the Main Street of Monbulk, smashing her head on the pavement.
Since the accident, Mrs Davies hasn’t been able to drive and has constant bouts of dizziness since the accident on 31 August.
She is calling for the Shire of Yarra Ranges to fix the dangerous section of pavement.
Mrs Davies had just finished picking up a loaf of bread from the town’s Safeway supermarket and was about to cross the road to meet her husband.
“I don’t know what I tripped on or how I fell,” she said.
She later found out that she had tripped over a drain pit cover adjacent to Jenny’s Shoppe in the main street, which sits at about a 45-degree angle to the curb.
“I have never noticed it before,” Mrs Davies said.
Mrs Davies hit her head, suffered a black eye, which is still pretty swollen and hurt her knee.
Several local ladies helped Mrs Davies up and stayed with her until her husband, Thomas, arrived.
He had just been down the road dropping off a friend’s car at the local service station.
“I didn’t even recognise it was her… she had blood all down her face,” Mr Davies said.
“She just stood there glaring at me like she was in another world.”
Mr Davies rushed her to their doctor in Olinda. After suffering from headaches for a week following the fall she was referred to The Angliss hospital for a brain CT scan.
Mr Davies was worried that his wife may have suffered a stroke from the shock of the fall but the tests came back clear.
However, almost a month later she still suffers from daily headaches. She is calling for the council to fix the area to stop it from happening to anyone else.
Shire spokesman James Martin said the council would investigate the issue to see what remedial action could be taken to the drainage pit cover to reduce the possibility of further accidents.
He has also called for Mrs Davies to contact the council.