Mom Sustains Serious Injuries After Getting Impaled on Fence in Freak Accident

A mother in Australia had to be rescued after getting impaled on a school fence while trying to climb it in a freak accident.

The 37-year-old woman — who was not identified — was found by emergency services “dangling by her left arm” on a fence at Riverstone High School in Riverstone on Saturday morning, April 5, NSW Ambulance inspector Nathan Sheraton told 7News Australia.

“With the help of bystanders, we managed to secure some ladders to try and get the pressure off the actual arm itself,” Sheraton told the outlet. “It’s evident that the fence tore some of the flesh, which caused significant pain to her.”

He noted that when first responders got to her, she was still conscious and alert, but also in a lot of pain.

“We managed to cut the fence, leave the fence embedded [in her arm] and transport her via [ambulance] to Royal North Shore Hospital with a medical team onboard,” Sheraton added.

In a video obtained by 7News Australia, the 37-year-old can be seen walking to the high school and attempting to scale the school’s fence. Footage also captured the woman being stuck on the fence as emergency services worked to extract her. 

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Another video also shows her daughter going to a nearby home to ask for help. Norm Gibson, the man who owned the home, told the outlet: “The first thing we knew was when a young lady came banging on our door in a panic. Could we phone for an ambulance?” 

“After that, ambulance and police and everybody else [arrived], including the helicopter,” Gibson added. 

The woman was transported to the hospital in serious but stable condition. She sustained significant wounds to her upper left arm, but was expected to make a full recovery, officials told 7News Australia.

Officials also told the outlet that the 37-year-old had been stuck in the fence for about two hours. They said she had been trying to retrieve her daughter’s cell phone, which had been left on school grounds, when she got injured. 

A woman who witnessed the incident, Katelyn Campbell, described what happened as “absolutely insane.” She added, “She shouldn’t be entering school grounds. The daughter could have just waited until Monday to retrieve the phone. Instead, she’s put her own life at stake.” 

Officials told 7News Australia that police were not investigating the matter and no charges were being filed.