Natalie McCreith, 40, woke up in hospital paralysed from the waist down after a 100kg steel beam fell on her at work. She sustained multiple fractures to her back, broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a broken leg, leaving her with permanent nerve pain.
Accident at Luxury Country Club
In June 2024, Natalie was helping dismantle a steel structure at Beaverbrook Hotel & Golf Course in Leatherhead, Surrey, when a beam fell, trapping her under 100kg of steel. A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that a ratchet strap used to lower the beam was not fit for purpose and failed.
Natalie, from Liverpool, was working for iSkate Limited, where she had been employed for 14 years. Her usual role was building ice rinks, including for Dancing on Ice, but she was brought in to help take down a temporary café at the country club.
Life-Changing Injuries
Natalie said: "I have to live with the nerve pain forever. I think that is the hardest part of the whole thing. I am a very positive person, but it tests every single part of who you are and what you are. It is like having to change your whole life from moving at the pace of a jaguar to a tortoise."
She recalled the moment of the accident: "After the steel beam hit me, I remember stumbling backwards and screaming for them to send for an ambulance. I instantly knew that there was something majorly wrong. I remember being on the floor and it felt like my legs were floating in the sky. It was the most painful thing I have ever been through in my entire life."
It took 45 minutes for paramedics to arrive. She was given ketamine and airlifted to hospital by helicopter.
Recovery and Ongoing Pain
Surgeons at St George's Hospital in Tooting inserted a metal rod in her back, a rod in her left leg, and a blocker on her ribs. When she woke up, she was paralysed from the waist down and told she might never walk again.
Two years later, she has regained some movement and can walk with a cane, but she remains in constant agony and may never return to work. She attends physiotherapy for two hours daily, along with hydrotherapy, acupuncture, and psychology sessions. Despite being physically stronger, she still has nerve pain from her back to her feet, which she says will never pass. She used to enjoy mountain climbing and rock climbing, activities she can no longer do.
Legal Outcome
HSE found that iSkate Limited failed to ensure the dismantling was properly planned and carried out safely. Neil Munn, director of iSkate Limited, was on site and made the decision to use the ratchet strap, instructing workers where to stand.
iSkate Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 16(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 and was fined £12,000 plus £6,949 in costs at Guildford Magistrates' Court on July 28, 2026. Munn pleaded guilty to breaching Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and received a community order with 75 hours of unpaid work.
Natalie expressed her dismay: "I had worked for Neil Munn for 14 years and we had an amazing rapport and an amazing relationship. We were really close and we really trusted each other. My whole world has been turned upside down and I am in so much pain daily. Seventy-five community hours doesn't feel very just. When I found out it was really heartbreaking."
