Gran left with horrific injuries and blood pouring from her head after section of supermarket roof fell on her
Melanie Robinson says she looked 'like a horror show'
A GRANNY had her nose broken and needed 17 stitches when roof panels allegedly fell on her outside an Aldi supermarket.
Melanie Robinson, 52, looked "like a horror show" after suffering deep cuts to her head, a blood clot and a broken nose in the terrifying incident yesterday morning.
Her son Mark Abel, 30, claims his mum "could have died" when up to 15 roof blocks allegedly fell on her from a height of 15ft outside Aldi in Widnes, Cheshire.
Sales assistant and married dad-of-one Mark, who lives in Liverpool, Merseyside, said: "Our mum could have died.
"We have so many questions which need answering and while our main concern is her recovery, we just need answers.
"When I arrived at the hospital I was not expecting what I saw.
"Mum was battered. She was in agony and her hair was caked in blood.
"She looked like she had gone through a few rounds with Mike Tyson.
"The photos of her injuries speak for themselves. It was like a horror show."
Healthcare assistant Melanie, who is also mum to David, 28, and 31-year-old Anthony, was rushed to Warrington Hospital after the incident yesterday and is yet to be discharged.
Mark said his mum needed a total of 17 stitches – two internal to stem the bleeding and 15 on the outside of her scalp – and had a blood clot removed from her skull.
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Melanie also suffered two breaks to her nose, a black eye and swollen face, a suspected broken toe, a broken finger and an injury to her right shoulder and is still undergoing brain scans.
The petite 5ft3in gran's family do not know when she will be released from hospital and said she could even need a blood transfusion after losing a lot of blood.
Mark claims Melanie, who lives close to the Widnes store and had popped into buy a loaf of bread, had walked across the car park and was close to the entrance of the store when up to 15 heavy roof blocks – about a third of the roof in total – came down on her head.
Staff in the store quickly rushed to her aid and phoned an ambulance.
Mark said: "We believe about a third of the roof came down on mum's head.
"She had just parked her car up and had crossed over the car park and was walking by the side of the building.
"Mum heard a noise, looked up and before she knew it she had these blocks landing on her.
"She didn't really stand a chance, it came straight at her.
"Last night I couldn't sleep, I just kept thinking over and over again those blocks could have smashed her face in."
Widnes mum-of-three Emma Pickford, 33, witnessed the aftermath of the incident after arriving at Aldi with her three young children and said the roof debris "looked like a bomb had gone off".
Emma said: "I got to Aldi just after the incident had happened and saw a group of people gathered around one area – I thought someone must have got into a fight or something.
"When I got closer I saw someone lying in a pool of blood and saw all of the debris around her which seemed to have fallen from the roof.
"I had my three young kids in the car with me and it was quite distressing for all of us.
"The bits of debris were massive, it looked like a bomb had gone off or something there was so much of it."
She added: "The lady was conscious but looked traumatised and so shocked by what had happened.
"She was wearing this white floral dress and you could just see all of the blood covering it – there was loads of it.
"They had sat her up but she was still trapped under the debris and she was completely white.
"It knocks you sick to your stomach to see something like that, it was just shocking.
"She's lucky to be alive – that could have been a little kid and I dread to think what could have happened – it would have probably killed someone.
"The whole thing was just awful and I really hope the lady's OK now."
An Aldi spokesman said: “A woman was taken to hospital following an incident outside our Widnes store yesterday morning.
"We immediately launched an investigation into what happened and are working closely with the relevant authorities.”
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