Mother’s fury at pothole after falling into path of traffic with child

Published on 30/11/2012 12:19

AN angry mum has claimed she and her three-year-old daughter could have been killed after she tripped in a pothole and into the path of oncoming traffic.

Jaimie Harse, 23, was carrying little Katie Hope in her arms when she stumbled in the sunken pothole near Scotties pub on Portobello Road, landing in the road.

She had gone to collect Katie from Royal High Primary Nursery and was concentrating on the traffic so failed to notice the crater by the side of the pavement.

She said: “It’s a really busy road so I was focusing on getting across and didn’t see the massive pothole. The next thing I knew I was on the road.

“I landed on my left side and luckily Katie landed on top of me. It was lucky we didn’t get hit by a car as we fell right into the road.

“I was struggling to get up as I’d hurt my foot and had an operation on my left arm a few months ago. Katie was crying and was really upset, it was horrible.”

The mum-of-two, of Craigentinny Road, was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary by ambulance where she underwent X-rays for a suspected broken foot. Further tests revealed it was not broken but she had torn the ligaments. It has also aggravated an operation on a dislocated shoulder, she claims.

Katie was fortunate to only suffer a grazed knee.

Jaimie, who was discharged from hospital on crutches and is still on painkillers two weeks later, said the council needed to do more to fix the roads.

She said she was forever dodging the unsightly indents and would even try different routes to avoid them.

“I think the roads in Edinburgh are in a right state,” she said. “There’s another pothole that I keep catching the buggy on. You’re constantly avoiding them.

“I’ve tried to take a photo of the pothole to send to the council, but whenever I go to get one there’s either rain in it or a car parked over it.”

She got in touch after we revealed how cyclist Chloe Torrance, 24, of Clermiston, was left with horrific injuries following a cycling accident she blamed on shoddy road conditions.

It has led to a flood of complaints from readers, many of whom claim to have been hit with garage bills for pothole-inflicted damage.

The council has announced that a number of key road repair schemes across the city will be put on hold so they do not clash with tram works, but pledged smaller repair works would be unaffected.