Has any one had need for it? My eldest Daughter went to the new Ice Rink in Sheffield about three weeks ago with my other daughter, brother-in-law and two Granddaughters.

My daughter fell and was laid on the ice shouting for some one to get help saying she couldn't get up. Two skaters’ stopped and ask if she'd got dead leg and then carried on skating. All this happened while my other daughter had taken the youngest to the toilet. When she came back to the ice she found her sister still on the ice unable to get up. As she got to her sister she told her that she was unable to get up. Eventually 2 men came and asked if she could get up. With help from her sister and brother-in-law she was helped to her feet. She couldn’t put any weight on her right leg and her toes were pointing to the right. She was helped rather gingerly to the side of the rink where it was hoped she could get help. The men told her that she had to get over to the other side of the rink to the first aid room. They then helped her across the rink then she had to hop to the first aid room while the 2 held her up! She was put in a wheel chair that had flat tyres. The pain was not letting up and my youngest daughter asked if they would send for an ambulance. They were told it would be quicker if they made their own way to the hospital, maybe go home and see how you go and pop in A&E tomorrow and get it checked. They went straight to the hospital it turned out she had broken her hip and it was such a bad break she may need a total hip replacement. As you can imagine this was devastating she is only 41 years old. The surgeon managed to pin it and hopefully it will heal in time but she still isn't out of the wood. If the blood supply doesn't heal, it will be a hip replacement. We have told the health and safety manager what happened and he was very sympathetic. He checked if an accident form had been filled in, and it had only partly been done. In fact, they filled the rest in after we complained! He said he would inform the necessary people. We haven't heard any more since then.

I don't think the treatment she received was good enough. By not being qualified First Aiders and not having correct equipment to deal with serious injuries, they can do more harm than good. What if this had been a spine injury? This injury might have been made worse with the treatment she received prior to the hospital. Has any one else had problems?

hi, sorry to hear about what has happened.

I take it you are referring to Ice Sheffield, opposite the Institute for Sport. I would recommend that you contact the Operations Manager at Sheffield International Venues who run the venue, and ask for a response. The issue here is not the accident, I'm sure there is a sign or disclosure somewhere which states that all skaters skate at their own risk, but the response to the injury. The fact that nobody noticed her and the wheelchairs tyres were flat are inexcusable.

Having not been to Ice Sheffield myself to skate I am unsure of how the ice is managed. I can tell you that every Jan/Feb Leeds city centre has an open air ice rink, and that rink (alhtough smaller) is patrolled by ice marshalls at all times and if someone falls down and doesn't get back up they are over there in a flash. At least one member of staff working at that time should be a qualified first aider.

The sad matter of fact is that with some leisure facilities safety is forgotten. I worked in a facility once with some kids and one had a serious accident. The facility had a panic alarm which meant that when it was pressed a first aider would get there in a minute. However after pressing the alarm nothing happened. I had to leave the children and fetch another staff member myself. It turned out the alarm wasn't working. When I mentioned this to the facility they were totally not interestered.

If the response from the venue is not satisfactory contact ROSPA, a society who deal with preventing accidents. After the accident an accident report form should be filled in straight away. You should have then been asked to read it through and sign it if you agree, and you would have been given a copy to take away.

Please not let this go unnoticed. So many facilties are let off the hook as they give some feeble response as to why they are right and you are wrong, and people let it go. If you get no response from them go to your local citizens advice bureau who can they advide you what to do next.

i used to go to doncaster dome skating. It had all the usual mix of skaters, beginners/can skate a bit and nutters who whizz round at silly speeds and weave in and out of you scaring you slly. invariably there were accidents but they had multiple ice marshalls skating round the rink at all times andd they were straight there if there was an accident. if there was any query of more than a sore bum and ego they got a skate trolley and got you off the ice to check you out in a medical room. they were great. i've only been to ice sheff once and i hated it. i felt like i was going to get cropped the moment i got on the ice