Agoraphobic Woman Leaves Home, Falls into a Goddamn Open Manhole

Not to be a buzzkill, but here is one of the most depressing stories you’ll read this month: A woman with severe agoraphobia left her house and promptly fell down a manhole. Because the universe is a cruel place with a bad sense of humor.

According to ITV News, Janet Faal recently made one of her rare trips out into the world with a friend, who had to back her car out of the parking lot before they could go any further. But there was a wooden pallet in the way. Janet went to move the pallet and stepped right into an open manhole waiting underneath, breaking her nose and doing a number on her leg. It seems someone had covered the manhole—exposed by a broken cover—with the pallet. “I moved the pallet and took a step over – never in my life did I think there was a hole underneath, I thought it had just fallen over,” Faal told ITV. Do they not have bright orange cones in the United Kingdom?

Faal’s son is pissed. He told ITV:

I’m absolutely livid. Whoever owns that manhole should get it fixed and get it fixed right now.

It’s ruined my mother’s recovery. I can’t believe it. Whoever owns that manhole has something serious to answer for.

The Telegraph says the holes are the subject of a long-running dispute between a nearby tire shop and its landlord. Neither of them feels its their responsibility to fix the problem, which is exactly how somebody’s agoraphobic grandmother ends up getting hurt, you jerks.