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75-Year-Old Donna Woman Injured After Falling on Uneven Sidewalk

6 years 1 week 1 day ago Tuesday, March 20 2018 Mar 20, 2018 March 20, 2018 3:56 PM March 20, 2018 in News

DONNA – A 75-year-old Rio Grande Valley woman is recovering from injuries after tripping on a sidewalk. She says she doesn't want others to have the same problems.

Donna resident Mari Ybarra says she spends time looking for activities to keep herself busy after her husband’s death 15 years ago.

Among her favorite things to do is to get some fresh air. Ybarra says she has found a good reason to get a walk in daily, the store nearby has a sale every morning.

"They sell cheap stuff if you're there early in the morning. But if you come in late, it's all gone," she says.

Ybarra says she had a scare during one of her walks along 8th Street Thursday morning.

"When I heard a car swiveling, it was swiveling. So I thought I had seen it right here close to me. So I turned my head like this but I tripped over right here. That's when I hit rock bottom," she recalls.

Ybarra notes one piece of the sidewalk is about an inch and a half higher than the other.

She says when she tripped and fell she bruised her left leg, bumped her head and hurt her right shoulder.

Days after the fall, she realized the injuries weren't going away. So she got help.

"I went to the doctor yesterday. He signed out for therapy but they don't want me to go to the hospital. They're going to come and do therapy right in my house," she explains.

She says she also spoke with the city of Donna on Monday. However, she was told the city manager was not available to help.

"He's out of town, he's in San Antonio. He won't be back until, in three days. So we're going to stop this until he gets here," she adds.

Ybarra tells us she wants to see the sidewalk fixed or somehow marked as dangerous right away.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS reached out to the Donna Public Works Director Aniceto Santana to see if the dangerous part of the sidewalk could be marked or repaired.

Santana spoke with us off camera. He says the city is very concerned about the safety of its residents and is planning to personally go to the area to assess the situation in the next 24 hours.

He adds he may temporarily use an orange cone to warn other pedestrians about the problem.

Ybarra tells us she is happy we were able to get the head of the public works department to check out the sidewalk.

Count on CHANNEL 5 NEWS to follow up on this story in the coming days to see if a repair was made.

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