Crawley Town supporter injured by dog on a walk is saved by club staff

Robert Gaterell from Crawley was out walking his dog on the morning August 21, when collided with a big dog that flipped him up in the air.

He landed half on the pavement and half on the road, hitting the kerb with great force. Cars stopped and people came to my aid. “I was in a great deal of pain”, Bob said.

A car stopped and a young lady asked if Bob needed CPR. He was conscious so they drove off. Getting a glimpse of Bob, the people in the car recognised him and said: “That’s Bob from football!”

The car turned around and came back. They were on a family outing with their parents and grandmother. They off loaded mum and grandma to make space for Bob and his dog and brought the two home.

The people in the car were Maisy Hyder and Bradley Coomber, both of whom work in security at the club.

Bob said: “I was in serious pain and it was clear I needed an X-ray to ascertain the extent of the damage. They offered to take us to the Walk-in at Crawley hospital or A&E at East Surrey. I was hoping it was just serious bruising so opted for Crawley.

“The X-ray revealed a vertical fracture of the left femur next to the prosthesis (hip-replacement) and I needed to go to East Surrey hospital as quickly as possible. The ambulance transport could take several hours. My wife called Maisy and asked if they could take us to East Surrey hospital, which they so kindly did.

“I subsequently had an operation to stabilise the fracture and after 2 weeks in hospital came home. It is going to be a long and slow road to recovery before regaining full mobility.”

The home game against Stevenage on 1st October was the first match Bob could attend (in a wheelchair).

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Bob said: “I want to say a massive thank you to Maisy and Bradley. I want to emphasise the club’s philosophy of ‘Town-Team-Together ‘, and the effect this has had on my personal health.”