Woman’s stairway to hell

A MERMAID BEACH woman fractured the base of her neck and broke her ankle after she fell down the stairs in her unit block because there were no lights in the stairwell, court documents have claimed.

Nola Elizabeth Hyde, 56, is asking for three-quarters of a million dollars in compensation from the owner and body corporate of Turtle Beach Resort for the injuries which left her unable to work in her job as a sales assistant.

Ms Hyde was still unable to work full-time as recently as last month, according to documents filed in the Southport District Court.

There is a risk she may never be able to work full-time again after the accident on September 18, 2016.

“(Ms Hyde) will suffer additional and discrete impairments to her earning capacity in the future ... were the on- going symptoms of her injuries to force her to retire from all employment prematurely,” the documents read.

The accident occurred when Ms Hyde was walking up a flight of stairs to her level 2 unit in complete darkness.

“The standard artificial lighting which would ordinarily illuminate the stairway was not working,” the documents said.

“The emergency lighting which would ordinarily activate in the event of the failure of the standard lighting was not working.”

Ms Hyde lost her footing at the top of the stairs and fell down the entire flight of steps.

The fall left her with a fractured vertebrae in the base of her neck, a disc protrusion and a fractured ankle.

Ms Hyde spent time in a wheelchair and crutches and wore a collar to stabilise her neck for three months.

Turtle Beach Resort did not respond to requests for comment.