“I am a very positive person, but it tests every single part of who you are and what you are”
A woman who suffered devastating injuries at work when a 100kg steel beam fell on her says she will be in pain for the rest of her life. Natalie McCreith, 40, woke up in hospital paralysed from the waist down after sustaining multiple fractures to her back, broken ribs, a punctured lung and a broken leg.
She has been helping to take down steel structure at a luxury country club in June 2024 when disaster struck – becoming trapped under a heavy beam.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) probe found that a ratchet strap – a strong fabric band used to secure heavy items – used to lower the beam was not fit for purpose and failed. Two years on and brave Natalie is fighting her way back to full health.
But she said: “I have to live with the nerve pain forever. I think that is the hardest part of the whole thing. I am a very positive person, but it tests every single part of who you are and what you are. It is like having to change your whole life from moving at the pace of a jaguar to a tortoise.”
Natalie, from Liverpool, was hurt while working for iSkate Limited, whom she had been employed by for 14 years.
Her usual role was building ice rinks – including for Dancing on Ice – but she was brought in to help take down a temporary café at Beaverbrook Hotel & Golf Course in Leatherheard, Surrey.
According to HSE, Natalie was hurt “during the dismantling of a steel beam temporary structure”. HSE said “a ratchet strap was being used to lower a steel beam weighing over 100kg” – but “the ratchet strap was not designed for lifting or lowering loads and failed, causing the beam to fall onto Ms McCreith”.
Natalie, a former outdoors sports instructor says it took 45 minutes for paramedics to arrive. She was then given ketamine and taken away in a helicopter.
Natalie said: “After the steel beam hit me, I remember stumbling backwards and screaming for them to send for an ambulance. I instantly knew that there was something majorly wrong.
“I remember being on the floor and it felt like my legs were floating in the sky. It was the most painful thing I have ever been through in my entire life.
“I couldn’t see the bottom of my legs, but my manager’s face was grey. I didn’t even know that the bone was sticking out of my leg.”
Surgeons at St George’s Hospital in Tooting, south London, inserted a metal rod in her back, a rod in her left leg, and a blocker on her ribs.
She had to be hoisted out of bed and bathed, unable to sit up on her own.
Natalie added: “The worst part was that every shred of my dignity was gone. I had my clothes cut open at the scene on a dirty construction floor in front of a bunch of men.
“I was terrified, but at the same time I didn’t believe it. Eventually something told me that this was going to be a very long journey.”
When she woke up, she was paralysed from the waist down and was told by doctors that she may never walk again.
Two years later, she has started to get some movement back and can walk with a cane, but is in constant agony and may never be able to return to work.
Natalie has been going to physiotherapy for two hours daily along with hydrotherapy, acupuncture, and psychology.
Despite being physically stronger, she still has nerve pains from her back down to her feet, which she says will never pass.
She used to go mountain climbing and rock climbing, which she will also never be able to do.
Natalie believes she will never be able to go back to work despite loving it, as the pain makes her unreliable and she has to regularly nap from fatigue.
Neil Munn, director of iSkate Limited, was on site at the time and made the decision to use the ratchet strap, instructing workers where to stand, HSE said.
An investigation found that iSkate Limited had failed to ensure that the dismantling of the internal steel frame was properly planned and carried out safely.
iSkate Limited was taken to court and pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 16(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015.
The company was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £6,949 in costs at a hearing at Guildford Magistrates’ Court on July 28, 2026.
Munn pleaded guilty to breaching Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, and received a community order with 75 hours of unpaid work to be completed.
Natalie said: “I had worked for Neil Munn for 14 years and we had an amazing rapport and an amazing relationship. We were really close and we really trusted each other.
“My whole world has been turned upside down and I am in so much pain daily. Seventy-five community hours doesn’t feel very just. When I found out it was really heartbreaking.”
