UPDATE: The woman who fell into a sinkhole in Springvale South has suffered a blockage to her heart from hypothermia.
Christina Beaumont, 52, was taken to hospital on Tuesday afternoon after a five-metre deep sinkhole opened up beneath her as she was hanging out washing at a friend’s home about 11.30am.
She fell into deep underground water and was forced to tread water to prevent more mud collapsing around her.
The mother-of-six was trapped in the cold, muddy water for more than 20 minutes before a neighbour heard her cries for help and called emergency services about 12.10pm.
Ms Beaumont collapsed soon after she returned home and was taken by ambulance to Monash Medical Centre Clayton, where she was found to have a blockage to her heart due to hypothermia.
Her daughter Rebecca Beaumont said doctors expected the blockage to clear of its own accord as her mother recovered from the shock of the fall.
Ms Beaumont remained in hospital on Wednesday morning where her heart was being monitored.
Rebecca Beaumont said she could not understand why her mother had not been taken to hospital immediately by ambulance.
She said her sister arrived to find their mother “sitting, soaking wet and freezing cold”.
“When [mum] returned home, she had a shower and then went very pale and her heartbeat was irregular, she also had a massive bump to her head which [is] now visible,” Rebecca said.
“I am extremely concerned as to why in such a traumatic incident, the paramedics who arrived on the scene, did not take her to hospital.”
Rebecca said her mother was still suffering shock on Tuesday night.
“She went under the water when she fell, like a plunge pool, came up with mud and water in her mouth, was surround by timber and hard surfaces and had dirt and sand crumbling around her and was unable to grab onto anything to pull herself up,” she said.
“She had insects and spiders on her but as she says that was the least of her concerns.”
The opening of the hole, which was little more than 30 centimetres wide at the surface, gave way to a much larger cavity underground, Country Fire Authority operations officer Paul Carrigg said.
The hole appeared to be up to six metres wide and between three and five metres deep, he said.
Firefighters used ropes to help Ms Beaumont climb to safety. She was rescued about 12.30pm.
Ambulance Victoria paramedic Stephanie Palamberis said Ms Beaumont landed in deep water when the ground beneath her collapsed.
“At one stage her head was under the water,” Ms Palamberis said on Tuesday.
“The woman told us she couldn’t touch the bottom of the hole, so was trying to swim and stay afloat to avoid the risk of further mud collapse.”
Ambulance Victoria group manager Andrew Watson said the organisation was reviewing Ms Beaumont’s initial treatment by paramedics.
“It is standard procedure that we conduct a clinical review into a case if someone isn’t taken to hospital and paramedics are subsequently called back within 24 hours,” Mr Watson said.
“Ambulance Victoria is willing to meet with the woman involved to discuss the findings when the review is completed.”
The sinkhole formed on the site of an old well, which had not been properly filled in, a spokeswoman for the Greater Dandenong City Council said.
“It was an isolated incident on that particular property,” the spokeswoman said.
Ms Beaumont was at the Springvale South property to help an elderly friend with her cleaning and washing.
Rebecca said her mother feared no one would hear her cries for help, because her elderly friend, Mary, is deaf.
“She thought she was going to die down there,” Rebecca said.
Neighbour Sophia Gagatsias said her husband was the first to hear Ms Beaumont’s screams.
“But he didn’t know where the voice [came] from because it’s a little hole where she fell,” she said.
“My husband looked over the fence…and then he called me.”
This story first appeared in The Age
