'I thought I was dead' - Woman lucky to be alive after huge castle wall slab falls 30ft onto her head

A Manchester woman has spoken of how she cheated death after a 20kg stone slab smashed straight into her head.

Esther Clyne, 54, thought she was going to die after the stone square tumbled over 30ft from a doorway and shattered on her head as she celebrated her friend's 70th birthday near Featherstone Castle in Northumberland.

The accident happened four years ago - but Esther, from Manchester, said she still suffers serious side effects from the near death experience, including bouts of dizziness, memory loss and lack of balance.

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Esther, who works in a school and helps run a charity, said: “It felt like a slab fell on my head. My head was just ringing and it was really loud.

"It was a few minutes before I realised and then the blood started rushing. This slab had slid off and hit me directly on my head. I thought I was dead."

Esther said those around her 'couldn't believe' she survived, adding: “There was a woman looking directly at me when it happened. She was crying her eyes out. She couldn’t believe I was alive.

“The ambulance man couldn’t believe I was alive. The injuries that I had. They instantly couldn’t believe how well I was. They said I shouldn’t be here.

"I'm definitely lucky to be alive.”

Esther said she had been just about to go to bed when a friend told her to step outside and see a marquee that had smashed into a window.

"My son Leon was beside me and as I stepped out the doorway I thought a bomb had gone off," she said. "It felt like I'd been hit by a bus.

“It was an almighty noise and my whole body shunted down. Luckily I was stood straight."

Esther says she was left 'debilitated' by the dizziness and pain