M&S door accident leaves pensioner appalled

Updated
Mary Adams
Mary Adams



Mary Adams, an 80 year old, from Yardley in Birmingham, says she has a fractured spine, after an accident involving an automatic door at a branch of Marks and Spencer. The response from the company has left her stunned.

She told the Daily Mirror that he had gone into her local M&S to pick up some ready meals, but when she was halfway through the automatic doors, they closed on her. She told the paper: "It's a bit of a blur now. I remember being thrown through the air, sliding down the wall and hitting my head and then waking up on the steps in a lot of pain."

She added that she had paid £1,000 to have a private MRI scan, which she said showed a fracture on her spine - although doctors couldn't pinpoint the exact date when the fracture was caused.

Adams told M&S about the incident, but says she was horrified when she got a letter saying they were sorry she had 'fallen', plus a goodwill gesture of a £20 gift card. She said she was angry they are claiming she had suffered a fall, when she felt the door was to blame.

A M&S spokesperson told the Birmingham Mail that: We are sorry Mrs Adams was disappointed by her experience in our store. The safety of our customers is our top priority and an engineer immediately inspected the doors and no fault was found."

At this stage it is impossible to tell exactly what happened.

Bears Find Their Way to a Sears Store
Bears Find Their Way to a Sears Store




Door attacks
Whatever comes of this, it sounds like Adams had a horrible experience, and she's not alone: there are lots of people who have suffered nasty door-related injuries over the years.

In April this year it emerged that Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool had paid out £5,000 to a visitor who had walked into the revolving entrance doors.

Earlier this year a train conductor received £20,000 after a faulty train door key jammed, causing him to fall backwards and shatter a disc in his back.

Last year a woman from Worthing was paid £19,200 compensation by Virgin Holidays after she walked into a glass door on holiday in Barbados. The company appealed but the holidaymaker won the appeal.

And in 2012 Emmott Snell Solicitors said it secured damages of £2,500 for a client who was entering Tesco through the automatic door when the door mechanism failed, and it shut suddenly on her face.

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