CRACKING REAL LIFE
Maria Hayes, 38, from Birmingham, was left fighting for her life after she heard a bump in the night...
Pulling on my PJs, I couldn’t wait to get under the covers for some shut eye.
After a mind-boggling day, studying to become a nurse, getting an early night was the only thing on my mind.
And after I’d cooked dinner for me and my daughter Amelia, now 14, at roughly 7.30pm, I finally got tucked up.
Leaving Amelia to her own devices, on 23 January this year, it was just us in the house – like it had always been.
Playing on my phone, before putting it on the side, I rolled over and closed my eyes.
As my thoughts slowed down and I started to drift off, that’s when I felt a surge of pain radiating through my head.
It wasn’t the start of a migraine – it was like someone was whacking me in the head.
A little dazed, that’s when I felt another thump.
What on earth is that? Putting my hands to my head, I assumed somebody had broken into our house and was hitting me over the head.
Then, I felt something crushing my legs and the rest of my body.
Too scared to open my eyes, I rolled out of bed, landing in a heap on the floor.
Dragging myself across the carpet, there was no one else in my bedroom.
Trying to piece together what was happening, I crawled over slabs of debris that were littered over the floor.
Tilting my head, as I looked up at the ceiling, I noticed that there was a huge, gaping hole.
My ceiling had cracked, with large slabs dropping on top of me as I tried to sleep.
I could hear the wind whirling through the exposed wooden beams.
Knowing that I needed to get out of the room, I dragged myself out onto the landing.
The pain all over my body was immense – I knew that I’d been badly injured.
I couldn’t put any pressure on my leg, let alone walk.
‘What was that?’ Amelia shouted, running out to see me.
In and out of consciousness, I lay there half-dead.
I couldn’t move my head or neck at all.
I’m going to be in a wheelchair. I’m paralysed.
‘I don’t know who I need. The ceiling collapsed on my mum,’ Amelia panicked as she called 999.
I didn’t want her to see me in that way, but I also felt like I was going to die. ‘Hello, Maria, can you hear me?’ a strange voice repeated.
As the paramedics arrived in the nick of time, I stirred enough to be able to tell them how I was feeling.
Needing to put me in a neck brace, another crew arrived to manoeuvre me down the stairs.
Thankfully, in t
