A DIABETIC woman who has endured a string of health problems fears she could be left permanently disabled after falling into a pothole outside her Witney house.

Debi Wiffen spent a total of three months in hospital and needed five operations after she tripped in Ashcombe Crescent.

Mother-of-four Mrs Wiffen fell on her ankle in January while taking rubbish to bins. She now fears she may never walk properly again after six months in a wheelchair recovering from the injury.

The 42-year-old, who is on sick leave from her job at Green’s Funeral Services, in Witney, said: “I haven’t worked for seven months and I might lose the house. I’m still not well and I’m very angry as this has been life-changing.”

The fall dislodged a previous ankle break, suffered in an ice-skating accident last year.

Mrs Wiffen spent a week in Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital in February, while her ankle was reconstructed with plates and pins. Since then she has been in and out of hospital with a number of complications.

Last month, she was treated at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Hospital for almost a month after developing thrush of the oesophagus, which stopped her eating and triggered problems controlling her diabetes.

Mrs Wiffen is pondering legal action over the pothole. She added: “I don’t know whether I will be able to get back to work permanently.

In five weeks’ time, she will return to hospital to find out whether her ankle has mended properly. If not, she must have the bones fused, which would result in a permanent disability.