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A UK health worker, Deméi Tito, 27, cheated death after slipping 13 ft from a bridge before landing with her face on a concrete floor.
The accident happened after she had sat down to ‘take a moment’ and look at the view in Ealing, west, London.
When she got up, she put her hands down on what she thought was part of the bridge but lost her balance, falling onto the stone path below.
Before falling, she had been on her way to visit a friend, who came to look for her when she didn’t arrive as planned on June 24.
She says she woke up covered in blood and had to have an emergency jaw operation after knocking out her front teeth.
Her friend found her by the River Brent below Hanwell Bridge and helped her walk to a nearby Accident and Emergencies ward..
X-ray scans of her injury show how Deméi’s jaw cracked in half, leaving her in need of reconstructive and cosmetic work likely to cost £12,000.
Deméi, from Ruislip, West London, said: ‘I’m lucky to be alive.
‘I could have landed on my chin and my neck could have snapped. It may have been a totally different outcome for me and it may be for other people if they’re not careful.
‘I’ve always been told I have a really nice smile and it was something that was one of my favourite things about myself.’
The accident happened at around 9pm, after she had been to watch a rugby match in a local bar with friends.
‘I had a couple of drinks – two pints of cider and a couple of Jägerbombs – before I left,’ she said.
‘It wasn’t an extortionate amount, I’d had enough to not be sensible but I definitely still had my wits about me.
‘I was sitting on [the bridge] a couple of weeks before, which I think contributed to my decision to swing my legs over this time.
‘I’d been sitting there for a little bit and it was quite dark when I was about to leave, I put my hand down into the bush instead of the bridge.
‘My reaction time wasn’t the quickest and my weight followed my arm down. I don’t remember any of the fall, the next thing I knew I was on the ground spitting blood.
‘None of my body was injured, the full force of the fall was on my face.’
When she got to A&E, doctors discovered she’d fractured her jaw in three places and cracked several teeth.
‘They gave me morphine while I was there and I dozed off a little bit, but woke up later screaming in pain,’ she said.
‘My jaw was fractured in three places – underneath my chin, and quite high fractures near my ears on both sides.
‘I also had tooth damage. The fall cracked the front right tooth, which was removed during surgery, and my other front tooth is being held in with a wire.
‘The other two on either side of them have moved forward and turned.
‘There are also a few in the back that have cracked and opened so there’s a lot of restorative work needed in terms of fillings and caps.’
Deméi was told that due to the severe crush injury to her jaw she may need further jaw surgery before undergoing cosmetic treatments.
Specialists have suggested she will need at least two implants, a bridge, braces and caps and fillings which cost over £6,000.
She said: ‘Out in public it’s a bit embarrassing. I’m happy I can wear a mask when I go out so I don’t have people looking at me in the street.’
Deméi said: ‘I would advise anyone exploring in the UK to just be so careful.
‘This isn’t the first bridge I’ve sat on, I used to do it all the time and didn’t think much of it because I thought “I’m never going to fall”.’
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