A British holidaymaker told how she was lucky not to lose her left foot after it was ‘sliced wide open’ in a horror accident at a water park in Spain.

Mum-of-four Stephanie Somerville, 32, said she was left in agony and covered in blood after she was catapulted into a wall by a ‘dangerous’ water slide at Rio Safari Elche water park in Alicante.

Stephanie has been signed off work for eight weeks and has been told she may require surgery after the accident last Thursday (September 7).

She hit out at staff who told her they believed she had ripped her foot open on a loose nail but they could not find the object and carried on ‘as if nothing had happened’.

She said: ‘They just don’t care. They kept the pool open with kids inside. It’s so dangerous.

‘My foot was torn open to the bone in one clean slice.

‘I’m worried that the next accident that happens there will be even worse.’

Stephanie – a hospitality worker at Celtic Football Club – told how she jetted out to the Spanish resort on the Costa Blanca for a week long break with partner Charlie, 28, along with her three daughters aged 12, six and four and baby son Tyrien who is just eight-months-old.

But she said the holiday turned into a nightmare after the trip to the water park on the second day of their break.

Describing the accident Stephanie, from Anniesland, Glasgow, said: ‘There was a big slide which you had to go down on a rubber doughnut.

‘I went down for the first time. It’s a very fast slide but instead of being a wide or long pool at the end, it was very small.

‘I went flying off the slide into the pool and smashed into the wall.

‘Unless you were able to turn, which was possible, there was no way of avoiding it.

‘The wall was made of rubber but I hit it very hard.

‘I tried to stop myself but when I put my foot down in the pool there was a tremendous pain.

‘I thought that I had broken my foot. I was in agony.

‘I didn’t realise what had happened until I came out of the pool and a Spanish man came over and was asking if I was OK.

‘He was pointing at my foot. I looked down and there was blood everywhere.

‘It was then I realised the bottom of my foot had been sliced wide open.’

Stephanie said no members of staff were able to offer medical assistance and she was advised to drive to a private hospital 15 minutes away.

She said: ‘‘I was crying and I couldn’t walk.

‘They didn’t care or bother at all. It was just a random guy who helped me out. There wasn’t anyone there who had any medical training to help.

‘My foot had been cut open and there was blood in the pool but they didn’t do anything.

‘Luckily my kids had stayed in the little pool and hadn’t been on the slide but there were children as young as five or six who were using it.

’We were left to our own devices and had to drive ourselves to hospital.’

Stephanie said that when she arrived at the IMED Hospital in Elche, doctors were not surprised to see her.

She said: ‘At the hospital they said it was very bad. They said I would need surgery but that I was lucky because I could have lost my foot.

‘Whatever was in the pool has ripped through the back of my toe and slashed through the whole front half of my foot.

‘The cut is more than five centimetres long. It’s one clean slash. I had to have stitches.

Stephanie – who has been in contact with a lawyer and insurers – said the water park paid for her basic treatment but refused to pay compensation and insisted they could do nothing more for her.

She said: ‘There’s obviously something not right there. That slide needs to be closed down. It’s dangerous. People don’t realise what they’re letting themselves in for.

‘It’s really fast. There’s nothing holding you in and you come down into this area that’s just too small.

‘We went back to the water park two days later as they had stopped taking our calls.

‘They had done nothing about it at all.

‘They thought it was a tiny loose nail or a screw that caused it but they said they couldn’t find anything and kept it open as normal.

‘There was no proper investigation. They don’t know whether the nail was on the ground or in the wall.’

Stephanie told how she spent the next five days of her holiday ‘staying indoors’ at the villa the family had rented as part of their £2,100 holiday.

‘She said: ‘I couldn’t go out as I couldn’t walk. I had to buy crutches and antibiotics but it was too painful to get around.

‘We had only been there two days when it happened and the whole holiday was ruined. It turned into a nightmare.’

Stephanie said she was only given permission to fly home at the last minute after airport staff spoke to doctors at the hospital that treated her.

She was taken to the plane in a wheelchair and her foot swelled up so badly on the flight home that she needed another wheelchair after landing – before going straight to A&E from the airport.

She said: ‘I’ve got a baby and I’ve been signed off work for eight weeks and my partner who is self-employed can’t work right now as he is looking after me and helping with the kids.

‘I’m still in a lot of pain. I’ve got to go back to have my stitches out.

‘They don’t know anything yet. I won’t know if I will need surgery or additional treatment until after that and the wound could get infected – anything could still happen.’

MailOnline contacted the water park for comment.

If you’re caught in a wildlife your first course of action will obviously be to call the authorities. But what if they can’t reach you fast enough?

Here we reveal what you can you do to give yourself the best chance of survival, should you ever find yourself in this scenario… 

HOW TO PREVENT CAUSING A WILDFIRE

‘Approximately 87 per cent of wildfires in the U.S are human-caused,’ reveals the National Park Service Division of Fire and Aviation Management (DFAM), which works to protect and preserve U.S National Parks through wildland and structural fire management. 

The DFAM says: ‘Don’t park on dry grass, and make sure nothing is dragging from your car or trailer while travelling that could cause sparks.’

It continues: ‘If you’re planning to camp, only build campfires in designated areas and don’t leave them unattended. Make sure your campfire is completely out before going to bed or leaving the site.’

SEE SMOKE? REPORT IT, DON’T INVESTIGATE IT

The DFAM says: ‘If you’re travelling and see smoke in the area, don’t investigate [it].’

Instead, it advises that you ‘head away from the area and contact emergency personnel to report [the smoke] or get help’.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU GET CAUGHT IN A WILDFIRE WHILE ON FOOT

The DFAM says that if you see smoke or flames from a wildfire, you should leave the area immediately and go back to your car – if you have one – so you can urgently drive away. 

‘Wildfires can travel faster than you think and the smoke may affect you before flames would reach you,’ it notes. 

However, those with no vehicle to retreat to have to consider other options. The USDA Forest Service says that you should avoid canyons, as they can ‘concentrate and channel fire’. 

Instead, you should try and find a large pond, as fire won’t blaze across a body of water. Just make sure it’s not a narrow creek with overhanging branches that could offer the flames a pathway over the water, warns National Geographic.

‘The best temporary shelter is in a sparse fuel area,’ the Virginia Tech university notes.  

The DFAM explains that such a spot is known as a ‘safety zone’ – a place in which ‘you could survive a wildfire’. It says: ‘Safety zones during wildfires can vary depending on flame heights and wind speed. The larger the flame heights and faster the wind speed, the larger the safety zone would need to be.’ 

When you’ve found a safe place, Virginia Tech explains that you should ‘cover yourself with anything that will shield you from the fire’s heat’ and then lie face down in the ground to avoid the smoke and flames. 

Generally, it’s safer to be downhill of the fire than uphill, The Bushfire Foundation reveals, explaining: ‘A fire will burn faster uphill. This is because the flames can easily reach more unburnt fuel in front of the fire.’

Be wary of the direction of the wind, too, as this will determine the course of the blaze. The most perilous place to be is downwind of the fire – it’s important to try and stay upwind of it, WikiHow notes. 

The Bushfire Foundation warns: ‘A change in wind direction is one of the most dangerous influences on fire behaviour. Many people who die in bushfires get caught during or after a wind change.’

WHAT TO DO IF YOU GET CAUGHT IN A WILDFIRE WHILE DRIVING

The DFAM says: ‘If you are travelling in your car and you see smoke or flames from a wildfire up ahead, turn back the other way. If flames are [coming] from the side, go toward the fastest route to escape the forested/natural area.’

It’s essential to roll up the car’s windows and close the air vents to protect yourself from the smoke outside, which can ‘irritate air passages’ and cause ‘coughing and wheezing, breathlessness, and chest pain’, says the British Red Cross.

If the thick smoke obscuring the road means you can no longer drive, it’s recommended that you stay in the vehicle.

The Bushfire Foundation says: ‘Park away from dense bush [or vegetation] – try to find a clearing. If possible, park behind a barrier such as a wall or rocky outcrop. The car should ideally face towards the oncoming firefront.’

It notes that ‘your highest priority’ is to ‘cover up with woollen blankets’ and lie on the floor of the car to protect yourself from the heat and to prevent the inhalation of smoke. 

WHAT TO DO IF YOU GET CAUGHT IN A WILDFIRE WHILE INSIDE A BUILDING 

If a wildfire surrounds your home or holiday rental, the DFAM says that you should follow evacuation orders when given. 

If you cannot evacuate, you should stay inside the house because it’s ‘many times hotter and more dangerous outside’, the USDA Forest Service reveals.

It says: ‘Dress properly to prevent burns and lifelong scars. Wear long pants and cotton or wool long-sleeve shirts or jackets. Gloves provide added protection. Do not wear short sleeve shirts.’

It recommends that you close all windows and doors – though leave them unlocked for ease of exit – ‘to prevent sparks from blowing inside’. Close all doors inside the property to prevent fire from spreading between rooms. 

The USDA Forest Service says: ‘Turn on a light in each room of your house, on the porch, and in the yard. This will make the house more visible in heavy smoke or darkness.’

It’s important to also shut off fuel lines such as propane, natural gas, and oil, which could all fuel the fire.

On top of that, the organisation recommends you remove any flammable curtains and drapes from the windows. It says: ‘Move furniture away from windows and sliding glass doors to keep it from igniting from the heat of fire radiating through windows.’

It adds that you should ‘fill sinks, bathtubs, and buckets with water’ – these become important extra water reservoirs for putting out small fires or to be used for drinking water.

KIT THAT CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE

The DFAM reveals that maps, a compass, a mobile phone and an ’emergency locator device’ (a type of radio transmitter that sends out a distress signal) can help to save your life in the instance you’re caught in a wildfire, as can a flashlight, which can be used to help you to see through the smoke. 

Water, food and a portable fire extinguisher could similarly improve your odds of survival. 

Patients resorting to alternative remedies to treat painful athlete’s foot risk suffering rashes, lung problems and even cancer, experts have warned.

In last week’s Mail on Sunday, clinicians raised the alarm over the rising number of ‘untreatable’ athlete’s foot infections. The common skin problem, which causes the skin between the toes to become painful and cracked, is caused by a type of fungus that is becoming increasingly resistant to even the strongest over-the-counter creams.

We received a flurry of letters from readers who had been affected, with many saying they’d experimented with other products found on chemists’ shelves to tackle the condition.

One MoS reader shared how he swears by potassium permanganate, a mild antiseptic which is dissolved in water. The purple liquid, a form of crystalised salt which can be bought in pharmacies, has been used for more than a century for skin issues such as eczema and leg ulcers, as well as for athlete’s foot before the invention of modern antifungals.

The reader says the treatment seems ‘to keep foot infections away’ though added that the ‘only drawback’ is that it can stain his feet purple for several days. But experts warn that ingesting potassium permanganate can be fatal and breathing in the fumes can lead to shortness of breath and even lung damage.

Another remedy mentioned by a number of readers, gentian violet – an antiseptic solution that has mild antifungal properties – has even been linked to cancer. It is banned in many countries but it is still legal to sell it in the UK.

Other DIY treatments mentioned include tea tree oil, apple cider vinegar, sesame oil and even bleach.

Experts are now calling for new NHS guidelines to make sure GPs pick up cases of drug-resistant athlete’s foot. They want them to take samples of skin for testing, as this will help them find out the specific medication needed for each infection.

Athlete’s foot is caused by a type of fungi called dermatophytes, which also causes ringworm – scaly, red rashes that can appear anywhere on the body. These infections affect millions of people in the UK every year.

Dermatophytes are usually passed on via skin-to-skin contact. The fungal spores can live on the skin and under fingernails for some time without triggering a rash, and thrive in warm, damp places such as wet towels or the floors of changing rooms. Specific antifungal treatments are the only effective route to destroying the fungus. The drug recommended by the NHS is terbinafine, the active ingredient found in popular cream Lamisil Once and other over-the-counter treatments. This is one of the medications becoming increasingly ineffective, experts warn.

Over time, fungi can evolve to develop stronger defences against drugs designed to kill them.

‘I deal with patients suffering with hard-to-treat fungal infections and many of them will have tried a herbal remedy before they arrive at my clinic,’ says Professor Darius Armstrong-James, an infectious disease expert at Imperial College London. There is no evidence that any herbal remedy works as well as antifungal drugs.

Studies show that tea tree oil is a mild antiseptic – meaning it may be capable of preventing the growth of fungus. However, an Australian study published in 1992 found that patients with a dermatophyte infection who were given tea tree oil were no more likely to see their infection cured than patients who were given no treatment at all.

‘Patients will often keep adding tea tree oil until they see an improvement, but it can burn and ultimately damage the skin,’ says Dr Neil McCarthy, a fungal infection expert at Queen Mary University of London. ‘There’s not enough evidence that these treatments do anything. Concerningly, there are clear risks to using them.’

Prof Armstrong-James and other experts say under the suggested new guidelines, GPs would perform a skin-scrape biopsy on patients thought to have a drug-resistant fungal infection.

This is where a clinician takes a small sample of skin from the site of the infection using a scalpel, which is then sent to a laboratory to be tested. This would allow experts to see if the infection was resistant to common treatments such as terbinafine and if it is sensitive to another antifungal. The GP could then prescribe the right medication.

Experts argue that, by ensuring fungal infections are treated with the right drugs, the NHS could drastically reduce the number of drug-resistant fungal skin infections circulating around the country.

‘It’s time for the NHS to take fungal skin infections more seriously,’ says Prof Armstrong-James. ‘We need to be better at spotting these drug-resistant infections if we want to stop them from spreading.

‘GPs don’t routinely do skin-scrapings, and it’s important these are done more. If we can get better at spotting drug-resistant fungal infections, we’ll be able to effectively treat more patients and reduce the number of people using herbal remedies instead.’