Caught on camera: Woman falls in manhole with loose cover

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - After a Colorado woman took a nasty fall into a storm drain, she says no one has responded to her requests to fix the loose manhole cover.

Sara Brown is still in a lot of pain after a May 1 incident that resulted in a trip to the emergency room. Video captured by a neighbor’s surveillance camera shows Brown walking on the sidewalk through her mother’s neighborhood when she suddenly falls into a storm drain with a loose cover.

“I put my right foot on to it, and I fell into the hole. My right leg went completely into the hole, and my left leg kind of jacked and caught on the lip of it,” Brown said. “I have hurt my left shin. I’ve got sores on my shoulders. I have got abrasions all over my left thigh and calf.”

Brown, who’s already handicapped, said she called Colorado Springs city officials that night to report the problem, not wanting anyone else to get hurt like she did. The representative on the other end of that call said they took down the information and are looking into the claim.

But Brown says nobody came to fix the manhole. Four days later, it was still a looming hazard, despite Brown calling the city again.

“I can’t imagine another child or somebody else coming by and having this happen to them,” Brown said. “As deep as this hole is, if a kid comes over here and it happens, they’re gonna go right to the bottom, and they can sustain more damage than what I did.”

The manhole is not far from a park and a school.

Brown says she has hired an attorney and has intentions to sue. She claims she’ll never walk over another manhole again.