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SINGAPORE - A routine detour to the hawker centre at East Coast Park for some sugar cane juice ended in pain, trauma and three major operations.
Ms Noli Nodin, 42, fell into a drain that she couldn't climb out of by herself. A PUB spokesman said the drain was less than a metre deep.
She had to be hauled up by her armpits, in pain and bleeding from an ugly wound.
She had been driving her fiancé, Mr Syed Shekender, to his home in Tampines after dinner at his niece's place at Bukit Purmei.
They were along the East Coast Parkway when she decided to turn off to East Coast Park to quench her thirst.
It was about 9.30pm and carpark E2 next to the hawker centre was full, so they parked at the nearby E3 carpark.
"I came out from the car, walked ahead and suddenly found myself in the drain," said the assistant accounts manager.
"I didn't know until I fell in."
She did not see the drain because there were no signs and it was dark, she said. The nearest lamp posts were across the road, and she had parked between them.
Ms Noli thought it was a small drain until she tried to climb out. She found the walls of the drain were too high.
Said Mr Syed Shekender, 41, a taxi driver: "She was screaming in pain. It was so unexpected."
With the help of three passers-by, Ms Noli was hoisted out of the drain by her armpits.
The second shock came when they saw the injury. Her right ankle was badly fractured and had an open wound.
A passer-by called for an ambulance, which arrived about 40 minutes later. Meanwhile, a group of about 10 passers-by tried to comfort Ms Noli by offering her a cushion and water.
She was operated on at Changi General Hospital. She has had two more operations for her fractured right ankle and open wound, which was infected.
In the latest operation on Monday, a metal plate was inserted on the left side of her right ankle.
Could the accident have been prevented with fencing or barriers and better lighting? Mr Syed thinks so.
He said: "The place was not well lit. There were no drain covers nor any fencings or railings. There weren't any signs and notifications either."
According to Mr Syed, doctors said Ms Noli was fortunate to not have suffered any impact to her spine. She will need more than two months and physiotherapy to recover.
Another metal plate
Doctors are monitoring her situation and will decide whether she needs to have another metal plate inserted.
The PUB spokesman said that the area around the East Coast Carpark E3 roadside is not a designated crossing.
A designated crossing is a crossing which has a sign. The Urban Redevelopment Authority is responsible for the carpark, while the drains come under the PUB.
There are safety railings for all open drains more than one metre deep. Railings are also installed depending on the profile of the area. Not all drains have signs.
PUB said it receives about one to two incident reports a year of people stepping into drains and added that it investigates the cases reported.
Ms Noli said she is fortunate that her leg went in first and not her head. "I've told all my friends not to park at that carpark anymore, "And also to let their men walk ahead."
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