Impaled on an iron rod for an hour
A drunken British tourist is alleged to have pushed his girlfriend out of a hotel window in Stalis. 34-year-old Sarah fell from a height of 6.5 metres onto an iron rod used to stake a plant in the hotel garden. She remained impaled on it in agony for about an hour. Her would-be rescuers were aware that the slightest wrong move could be fatal. Finally, firemen managed to cut the woman free using a circular saw and she was taken to hospital by ambulance. At dawn she underwent a five-hour operation and was then transferred to the ICU.
The tragedy happened in front of the 40-year-old man’s five-year-old son. The couple and the little boy had been on holiday at a Stalis hotel from 8 October. About 1 o’clock in the morning the 40-year-old, who had been drinking, had an argument with his girlfriend for reasons which have not been made clear. At some point, while his son was in the room, he is alleged to have hit Sarah and pushed her, making her lose her balance and fall out of the open window where she was standing.
The young woman fell from a height of about 6.5 metres onto an iron rod which the hotel staff had placed about a metre from the wall to stake a plant. The 34-year-old British woman was impaled on the pointed rod, which entered just under her left armpit and exited diagonally through her right side. The rod passed through both her lungs but fortunately just missed her heart. If only she had fallen a few inches away into the garden she would have probably escaped unhurt, as the earth was soft from the rain.
Some of the hotel staff heard the fall and her screams and ran into the garden, to be faced with the horrible sight. They immediately called the doctor from the Malia Medical Centre – the nearest medical assistance – and Hersonissos Police.
The 40-year-old British man was taken before the Heraklion Public Prosecutor and charged with attempted murder.