CHECKERS & the SPIN DOCTOR!

I fell in Checkers Big Bay Cape Town 3 TIMES! 5/6 years ago I slipped around the meat section in Checkers Big Bay & broke my ankle. But as us normal quiet unassuming, decent people do, I just went to my doctor & suffered my broken ankle without making a fuss. This past Monday 24th April 2023 I fell in Checkers Big Bay Cape FOR THE THIRD TIMEI! This time I broke my ankle there..... for the 2nd time. 5 weeks ago I slipped again around the meat section & lacerated the skin on my left knee & pulled the ligaments. I showed the Perishable Manager Mr Ralph Myers my knee & this is how it went : Me : Good morning. Ralph : Nodded Me : I just fell in your meat section No response from Ralph Me : I fell there & broke my ankle there in the meat section also 6 years ago No response from Ralph Me : Your staff tried to jerk me to my feet but I was in such agony I could hardly stand. No response from Ralph Me : I tried to take a photo of the women who helped me up but they turned their faces away refusing to be photographed. Ralph : Yes it is their right. Me : (losing patience now with this morose unresponsive man) and what are MY rights? No response from Ralph! Me : (hopping around on my good foot & raising my voice) You don't even offer me a chair to sit on or a glass of water! Ralph : Why are you shouting at me! Me : Because I can't have respect for a manager that can't manage... Ralph turned around in my face & walked off. I spoke to Simone the Admin Manager who said she would have a look at their camera's to look at my fall. Everybody I knew urged me to take the matter further. 2 weeks after the incident, I went & spoke to Simone the Admin Manager & Chris the Regional Manager who were both in a small office in Checkers, requesting to see the incident on their camera's. Simone dismissively said that there are no camera's in that section. Chris, obviously very perturbed that anyone could come into their office & ask to see footage on their camera's said, chomping through his sandwich that it's all protected by the Poppi act & he just stood there waiting for me to leave. The complete & utter disinterest in me or my injuries & their absolute refusal to respond in any way, was flabbergasting to say the least! Over the past 12 years of buying my groceries in Checkers Big Bay, I have spent in excess of 750 000! I knew, I JUST KNEW, that after the previous manager, Mr. Saunders left, that Checkers Big Bay would go downhill. So on Monday 24th April 2023, I slipped and fell & broke my ankle on a very wet floor in Checkers Big Bay. I lay on the floor, crying & writhing in agony. Once again the staff tried to get me to my feet but I was in such shock & agony I couldn't get up .because I had also landed on my left knee & once again hurt the knee very badly . Then suddenly, Chris appeared with a wheelchair & he & Simone sprang into action. The only way to get to the tills was to walk on that strip of floor. The floor was covered in water. There was a lot of foot traffic there. People had to walk over that strip of wetness. I could see people trying to dodge the wetness on the floor. They gave me a cup of tea & tried to get hold of my doctor but my doctor doesn't consult on a Monday. They then made an appointment for me to immediately see Dr. Nick Wilton who's offices were in the same building. I told Simone that I have no money & that Checkers would have to pay for all my immediate medical expenses. They paid Dr Wilton as well as the radiographers in the Netcare Blaauwberg Hospital. However, I started a little fledgling business from home making handbags. I am now laid up with a broken ankle & I am not able to use my right foot to press on the pedal on my sewing machine. I also cannot drive a car as it is my right ankle that is broken. An appointment was made for me to see Dr. Van Der Kaag the orthopaedic surgeon on Fri 5th May. I have been given a moonboot to wear & told by the doctor's rooms not to put any pressure on the foot so I am not able to carry on with my handbag business which is my only source of income. Apparently Checkers Big Bag has a serious plumbing problem. Simone said that the water keeps on seeping through the floor & that they have independent floor contractors that are supposed the keep their floors in good order. She also said that another woman had cut open her toe there in Checkers Big Bag. The surprising thing is that there is just zero safety structure in place at Checkers Big Bay. The staff stand around in confusion not know what to do or how to act with an incident like mine. to make matter worse, This doctor Dr. Nick Wilton never even looked at my left knee. He poo pooed it saying "nah that's just soft tissue injury". Point is: from my fall in Checkers 5 weeks ago the knee had been giving me trouble & since I had fallen on it again I am scared that I might have future complications from it. He took my blood pressure & flashed a device with numbers on it in front of me as if to say "BINGO!" I told him that I didn't know what those numbers meant because I had never had high blood pressure. I have low blood pressure. I am a dancer. I have been dancing since I was 8 & have never stopped. I have a degree in Dance. Actually I have 2 degrees. I am as healthy as a horse. Was Dr. Wilton trying to spin it that I fell because I have high blood pressure? Or was it pure unadulterated age ************** because I'm 73 years old? If this doctor had done his studies properly, he would know that people who have just had a traumatic shock, shows high blood pressure. I have LOW BLOOD PRESSURE! The doctor forgot to give me a script and my son, who was driving me backwards on forwards through load shedding and through heavy afternoon peak hour traffic with no traffic lights working, drove back to Dr. Nick Wilton's offices & ran in to try to obtain a script but the unhappy morose secretary said that the doctor was in consultation. I phoned him twice more in order to get pain medication but I was told that he was in consultation. I left a message on his answering machine but got no response. I had to spend the night in agony without medication. when I phoned his office again the next morning I was told he was in consultation. I asked if she could interrupt him. While I was holding on I could hear some sort of dissatisfied conversation. When he came on the phone he said that he had tried to phone me but throughout all my calls showing on my phone, there was none from him! He gave me a script for pain & anti-inflammatories. So here I am, laid up in pain & tomorrow I have to hobble along in a moon boot & crutches losing money hour after hour! Even just taking a bath is a battle! I will be getting in touch with the press. I am not a "Crusader sort of a person" but I have now had enough from Checkers Big Bay and their indifference to their customers. Selma Essakow (Darling)