Cork woman describes the frightening moment she was hit by falling debris on Patrick's Street

A CORK woman had a lucky escape on Patrick's Street today when falling debris missed her head by centimetres but left her with back and neck injuries.

Law graduate Niamh Hegarty was hit by falling bricks this morning on the way to a business event at the Metropole Hotel.

Niamh was walking past the building at 89/90 Patrick's Street, now leased by clothing company Superdry, when the underside of a windowsill fell from the second floor, hitting her on the back.

Ms Hegarty said the incident was so shocking she blacked out momentarily before being helped by two female passers-by.

“The brick hit the base of my neck and shattered. I was covered in dust and I got a bit of a shock and it knocked the breath out of me. Two girls ran towards me and asked me if I was okay and that is when the reality of the situation hit me.

"The girls were getting me to move because there was another big bit of brick about to fall."

The two women called the gardaí and before long emergency services were at the scene.

An ambulance was called to take Niamh to the hospital and she underwent tests for a concussion at the Mercy Hospital.

“Everyone kept saying I was haunted that the brick hadn’t hit me on the head. I was wearing a laptop bag on my back and that seems to have lessened the impact.” 

At the hospital, Niamh was told she had bruising on the base of her neck.

“Thankfully there was no sign of a concussion. They gave me a sheet with the signs of a concussion and told me to watch out for them over the weekend.” 

Niamh said she got an awful fright from the incident and was still processing it hours later.

“It knocked the wind out of me. It was like a punch in the stomach. The paramedics and the people who helped me were so kind and lovely, I just want to thank them.”

The young professional said she was very lucky and the situation could have been a lot worse.

“It could have been anyone. It could have been a small child. People are oblivious at that hour of the morning, going to work, the last thing you expect is to be hit by a brick.”