Hen party hot tub slip destroyed my big day
Broken ankle wins £30k payout but ruins Laura’s wedding dance
A BRIDE who broke her ankle on her hen do said missing out on her first dance hurt more than the horror injury – as she was given a £30,000 payout.
Laura Laing, 30, was sober when she slipped on mould on decking beside a hot tub at holiday cottage accommodation where she was staying with 10 friends in February 2019 – a couple of weeks before she was due to tie the knot.
The getaway at Clydeside Villa in Dunoon, Argyll, cost £700 for a three-day stay on Airbnb – but on the second day Laura slipped and was horrified to see her ankle was pointing in the wrong direction.
She then endured multiple trips between different hospitals and feared for how her wedding to partner Calum Laing, 27, would pan out – as well as the honeymoon they had booked to DisneyWorld in Florida in May.
The accident happened on February 16 but by the time they got to DisneyWorld, Laura was still in a wheelchair.
She said their wedding was “ruined” and her dress got damaged by velcro from the “moonboot” she had to wear – and she couldn’t even drink due to the painkillers she was on.
The cottage owners accepted liability and paid out £30,000 following legal action after it was argued they failed to remove the mould build-up as it was a “reasonably foreseeable hazard”.
Laura said: “I only made it halfway through our first dance before having to be literally carried off. I’m glad we didn’t decide to have a ceilidh as that would have turned out pointless. I then spent most of the night sitting.
“I couldn’t greet people because I couldn’t move and I couldn’t even have a glass of champagne because of the painkillers I was on. But I tried to find the positives on the night because at the end of the day I did still get to marry my amazing man.
“We planned everything for months so to have it all go south because of slipping on mould was frustrating and upsetting all at the same time. I was in absolute agony but missing out on so many experiences like my first dance with my husband probably hurt more than my ankle.”
Admin worker Laura, from Gracemount, Edinburgh, had surgery at the city’s Royal Infirmary on February 17. Plates and pins were inserted and she was discharged three days later with a “moonboot” and crutches.
But she needed physiotherapy and has been left with two scars on her ankle.
And she hopes to have another party to make up for the limitations on the wedding reception.
Laura said: “Maybe in the future I’ll finally be able to have some kind of gathering again where I can finally enjoy what I missed out on.”