2:20pm Thursday 4th August 2011
A WIFE has told how she thought her husband had died when he fell 20 feet from a seawall.
Julia Corrigan, 53, cried out but got no reply as she desperately tried to help her husband Colin, 57.
He had fallen off a path at Coopers Beach, on Mersea, and landed on rocks.
He had a broken leg, five broken ribs and head injuries, and suffered hypothermia as rescuers took three-and-a-half hours to reach him.
Mrs Corrigan, of School Road, Silver End, said: “I was so scared, I thought he was dead.
“I called out to him, but at first I could not get a reply.”
The couple, their son and daughter-in-law were returning to a rented caravan from a wedding reception when the accident happened.
Mr Corrigan’s daughter-in-law, Karen Bohane, tripped and fell, but as he stopped to help her he fell sideways down the seawall.
The couple’s son, Ricky Bohane, tried to reach him, but the rocks were too steep and slippery. Mrs Corrigan said: “I kept calling and eventually heard him groan. I went as close as I could to keep him talking.
“We called the emergency services – it only took them seven or eight minutes, but it felt like a lifetime.
“They managed to climb down the rocks, but were unable to move him. They had to get the air ambulance.
“His head and face were covered in cuts and bruises, it was horrific.”
Her husband was taken to Colchester General Hospital, where he spent five days.
Mr Corrigan, who is still recovering at home after the accident in June, said: “It was very traumatic. I was slipping in and out of consciousness, but the ambulance crews did an A1 job – I cannot praise them highly enough.
“I was so relieved when they arrived at the scene. I remember when I first came round not knowing where I was. For some reason I thought I was at school.
“The worst thing was they had to cut off my new suit and I remember thinking I have only worn that once.”