27 April 2017 07:10 pm
Claire Saywell, 42, was relaxing at a four-star hotel in Negombo with her husband David when a 50ft tree fell across her sun-bed, shattering her legs.
'I was dozing in the sun with my eyes closed and the next thing I knew I had this excruciating pain in my legs. I remember seeing the tree and screaming as the pain was nothing like I've ever experienced. My legs were bent down in a V shape where the sun lounger had broken. I will never get that vision out of my head. I thought my legs were gone,” she said.
Mrs Saywell said the tree also hit another British tourist who suffered minor injuries, and it took 45 minutes for an ambulance to come to her aid.
After being transferred to Colombo, she had titanium pins inserted in her legs in hospital where she spent 12 days before being flown home on a private jet.
Mrs Saywell, who is now taking legal action, said she ended up with two broken legs, and suffers nightmares, flashbacks and a fear of going abroad.
She said: 'Personally I would take down all of the palm trees around where people sunbathe to prevent this happening again. We've been offered a free holiday but I don't want to go back.'
Larry Shaw, of law firm Slater and Gordon, which represents Mrs Saywell, said: 'It is crucial that holiday resorts and tour operators ensure trees are properly inspected and maintained to avoid incidents like this happening again.'