Impaled on a fence FOR FIVE DAYS

Dale's life turned upside down on a walk home from the pub

- Claudia Siron

Dale Whitehurst, 45

Are you ready for your shower?' I asked my partner, Sarah, then 50.

Sarah suffered a long list of illnesses, so I was her full-time carer. Once she fell asleep, I'd call my daughter, then 21, who was studying fashion photography at uni four hours away.

One Sunday afternoon in June 2021, after I set up Sarah in the front room with her laptop and coffee, I stepped out to the pub.

After a few hours, I noticed the time.

I should probably go home and get Sarah ready for bed, I thought.

Leaving, I decided to take a short-cut through a park.

I'd never taken that route before, and quickly realised I was lost.

Seeing a two-metre high security fence, I foolishly began to climb it, hoping I'd find my bearings on the other side.

As I reached the top, about both ankles they brushed the ground.

Seeing an empty coke can, with all my might, to jump over, my ankles became jammed between the metal spikes.

I was flung backwards, smashing my head on the fence and blacking out.

Coming to, I felt hazy and light-headed.

I'm upside down, I realised, my eyes blinking against the early morning sunlight. I must have been here for hours.

Panicking, I couldn't feel my legs. Looking up, to my horror, I saw that the jagged metal spikes of the fence had pierced through both my ankles, impaling me.

'Help!' I screamed at the top of my lungs.

At 182 cm tall, stretching out my arms they brushed the ground.