Mother pulled to her death by automatic garage door
two were going out for a drink. They then walked back toward the car park ramp and Ms Chalkley ran ahead and pressed the button to open the shutter.
Ms Gilmore, who had known Ms Chalkley for a year, said: “As it went up, Heidi said to me, ‘Have you ever held on to it as it goes up?’
“Heidi grabbed hold of the shutters. She started to panic as her hands got caught.
“Everything happened so quickly, in a matter of seconds.”
Jurors heard that she shouted to her friend, a fellow social worker, “Talk to me, talk to me”, but got no response.
Neighbour James Spitale heard shouting from his back garden. In a witness statement, he said: “When I got there I looked at the woman and saw her head was stuck in the shutting mechanism at the top.
“She was hanging around three feet from the floor and there was blood coming from her mouth.
“She was not moving at all. I stood behind her and took hold of her legs. I tried my best to do anything I could.”
Ms Gilmore said she was approached by a firefighter, who told her Ms Chalkley was dead.
A statement provided by Ms Chalkley’s family said that “hundreds of friends thought of her as their best friend”.
She was described as a “beautiful, successful and accomplished young woman”, who was “highly intelligent and driven”.
It added: “Without her this world is a much colder place.” Ruth Bagnall Court, where the accident occurred, was built in 2004 as part of a housing scheme for key workers such as teachers and firefighters.
Graeme Warden, an inspector with the Health and Safety Executive, told jurors the shuttered gate to the underground car park had been “subject to multiple repairs” since its installation.
He added that there had been numerous reports of breakdowns and vandalism of the door.
The inquest continues.