WANGI Hardware proprietor Sonja Dyke-Clark is back on deck and recovering after sustaining a broken leg and serious shoulder injury in a shocking fall.
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The incident continues a run of bad luck and misadventure for the active businesswoman.
"I was hurrying over to the post office in the drizzle just before the June long weekend when I tripped on the gutter and found myself sprawled on the footpath," Ms Dyke-Clark said.
She didn't know it at the time, but Ms Dyke-Clark had broken her femur, near her hip, and seriously re-injured her troublesome shoulder.
Locals came to her aid.
Remarkably, Ms Dyke-Clark continued to go about her business, completing a transaction at the post office and even walking back, with some assistance, to her store across Watkins Road.
"But it was clear to me that my leg wasn't working very well, and it was very painful," she said.
"At that point I said I had better get some attention because I don't think I'll be able to walk home."
An ambulance transported her to John Hunter Hospital, in Newcastle, where she remained for two months.
Doctors used cannulated screws to repair her broken leg.
She may ultimately need a hip replacement.
But for now - as has been the case for the past 23 years - her top priority remains the hardware store.
During her absence, some ex-staff pitched in to help the existing staff keep the business running.
"But while I was in hospital we couldn't get any stock in. But it's coming this week," Ms Dyke-Clark said.
"It's good to be back. I'm feeling a lot better, and people are telling me I look a lot better."
Just don't tell her doctors.
"The doctors haven't cleared me to go back to work yet," she smiled.
"And I can't go on public transport, and they've told me to slow down. But I wanted to come back and say thank-you to my friends and neighbours who have been helping out."
Even the Wangi Library staff are seeing what they can do about the $36 late fee Ms Dyke-Clark accrued for overdue books.
Tough breaks
THE fall was the latest in a series of unfortunate events to hit Ms Dyke-Clark in recent years.
■In 2011, she broke her shoulder in a fall while walking her dog Brindabella in the rain.
■In 2012, thieves stole the cash register, and its contents, from her front counter. More robberies and shoplifting followed.
■This year, her store has been flooded twice and, in May, vets said Brindabella could have just four weeks to live.
■Later that month, Ms Dyke-Clark took another tumble at night when Brindabella fell down a hole that had opened on the edge of the road on Alexander Parade (see story p7).
Ms Dyke-Clark said she gets her resilience from her parents who taught her to be innovative and make the best of what you have.
