A mum experienced the holiday from hell after she fell down a flight of steps at a restaurant, leaving her bedbound for months.

Carol Burnett, a 43-year-old primary-school teaching assistant from Watford, broke both her ankles and still suffers ongoing mobility problems two years after her trip to Lanzarote.

She was wearing flip flops with no support or grip when she got up to leave the table at her favourite restaurant in April 2019.

It was then that she slipped down the stairs and landed standing up - twisting and dislocating both ankles, and breaking dozens of bones in both feet.

She spent nearly two weeks in hospital in the Canary Islands - and then a further nine days at Watford General Hospital – before she was bedbound for ten weeks with casts on both ankles.

Countless operations and injections later, the former nurse still can't walk for more than ten minutes, jog or walk up the stairs properly, and probably needs further surgery.

The teaching assistant said: “The injuries I have you would usually see after a car accident or high-impact sport injury.

“It was one of those very unlucky broad-daylight freak accidents.

“I turned round to talk to the kids and didn’t realise how close to the edge I was.

“I remember my left foot going and there was no handrail to grab onto, then my right foot going backwards on the second step then I don’t remember the others.

“The doctors said all the damage was caused by the way I fell."

Mrs Burnett was due to fly back home after the two-week holiday with her family the day before the incident.

She instead spent ten days in hospital, where they operated to piece her right foot back together.

Later at Watford General, she had another operation on her right leg.

During her ten weeks bedbound period, she was unable to put weight on her feet.

“That was the hardest part,” she said.

“I have three metal bars going down my right leg to help keep my ankle in place.

“I didn't have a scratch anywhere else, and I’m lucky I didn’t fall back and smack my head.”

It was hoped that her left foot would heal naturally, but her pain never left.

Instead, a piece of bone was removed from the outside of her foot in April this year, and she had a steroid injection last month after suffering with more pain.

Doctors are also considering possible future surgery on the bone across the top of the foot which was completely shattered in the fall.

Mrs Burnett, who said she used to walk her dog an hour a day, run 5k three times a week, and do Park Run every Saturday, said: “At the time I didn’t realise the impact on my life.

“I have arthritis in both my feet and it’s so painful - it limits everything I do.

“I can’t even jog anymore or walk the ten minutes from our house to the town centre.”

She added: “I’m happy that I’ve managed to carry on and keep working.”