A WOMAN has thanked the “wonderful” members of the public who stopped to help after she suffered a fall.

Kathy O’Reilly, of Queens Road, Burnham, who is awaiting surgery for joint problems, suffered a fall and hit her hip when out walking, leaving her in agony.

Ms O’Reilly was on the ground for a few minutes before a passing taxi driver pulled over to help and phoned an ambulance.

She said: “I was in so much pain that I couldn’t be moved, but he stayed with me and was so wonderful.

When you take a bad fall like that you never know what to do, as movement could result in more damage and pain.

“It took a long time for the ambulance to arrive, but the crew were fantastic in taking care of me and getting me to A&E to be treated.”

Kathy’s neighbour also called her friend Shelley Haydon, a volunteer first responder for the East of England Ambulance service.

Off-duty, Shelley of Southminster, came out to help.

She said: “It was a very cold day and although I could not take Kathy’s pain away I could help to reassure her and keep her warm and help contact the people she needed too at the time.

“I’m pleased she made a full recovery and is on the mend and that I was able to help even though I was not on duty.”

Kathy, 51, had to wait almost two hours for the ambulance to arrive following the accident last Thursday.

She added: “It was lovely and heartwarming to see so many people going out of their way to help me, I didn’t manage to get the taxi driver’s name, but I hope he knows how grateful I am.”

A spokesman for ambulance service said: “We were called at 11.37am on February 9 to a report that someone had slipped and fallen on Queens Road in Burnham-on-Crouch.

“An ambulance crew assessed and treated a woman in her fifties for a hip injury. She was taken to Broomfield Hospital for further treatment.”

The ambulance service also apologised for Ms O’Reilly's two hour wait after the fall.

The spokesman said: “We would like to apologise to Kathy O’Reilly for her ambulance wait and any distress this may have caused.

“The call was triaged and coded as a ‘green’ serious but not life-threatening incident based on the information provided by the caller over the phone.

“Unfortunately we were unable to get an ambulance on scene until 12.49pm due to the significant number of serious and life-threatening calls received, totalling more than 350 in Essex that day.

"A clinician in our emergency control room had also made a welfare call to ensure Ms O’Reilly’s condition had not worsened during that time. Once the ambulance arrived she was treated for a hip injury and was taken to Broomfield Hospital where we are pleased to learn she made a good recovery.

“We are delighted to hear that despite the wait, Ms O’Reilly was happy with the level of care she received, something that our staff pride themselves on and is frequently fed back to us in our patient surveys.”