UK’s third-largest baby born weighing over a stone is already eating porridge and bursting out of size 9-12 month clothing - at FIVE MONTHS OLD
A baby born weighing 14lbs 15oz is now so big he's already eating porridge and bursting out of size 9-12 month clothing - at the age of just FIVE MONTHS.
Alpha Stone Mitchell, now 24 weeks, was crowned Britain's third largest new born when he arrived via c-section on 28th October 2021 at John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.
The tot is now a hefty 1st 10lbs and squeezing into size 9 to 12 month baby clothing - despite not yet being six months old.
Mum Cherral Mitchell, 31, says her little boy is now so chunky and hungry that she's having to wean him off milk and start him on soft foods.
He loves porridge and rusk biscuits - despite most babies not being ready to eat solids until they are at least six months old.
The mum-of-four, from Thame, Oxfordshire, said: “Alpha was a whopper.
"We knew he was going to be a big boy as my bump was huge, but we didn't realise quite how big he would be until he was here.
"I'd had three babies before and with Alpha it felt like we skipped the new born stage altogether - and went straight to him being three months old.
"He didn't fit into any new born or 0-3 month baby grows - he went straight to 3-6 month and quickly grew out of them.
"Even now he's in 9-12 month clothing, it's a little tight - it won't be long before he's in the next size.
"And I just found he wasn't feeling full enough after drinking his milk so I've had to start weaning him early.
"Now he gobbles up porridge and he loves rusk biscuits too.
"He's a growing boy."
Alpha’s considerable appetite leads him to eat baby porridge first thing in the morning, before drinking 7oz bottles of Aptamil baby milk every three hours and consuming a whole baby rusk in the evening.
Full-time-mum Cherral - who has Rouge-Angel, five, Lyon, three, and Twyla-Bay, one, with husband Tyson, 36, an electrical engineer, - said: “We just started introducing baby porridge because he still seemed hungry in the morning.
“He’s not quite six months yet, but it’s not affecting his digestive system so it’s fine.
“He also sleeps all night from his last bottle at 9 or 10 o’clock until he wakes at five or six, ready for his next one. He's a good baby."
None of Cherral's other children were as big as their little brother when they were born.
Cherral revealed: “None of my children weighed anywhere near 1.5st at Alpha’s age.
“And they only needed to be fed every four hours - he's definitely the greediest.”
“Because Alpha is so long, he’s not far off his one-year-old sister’s height so people actually say to me ‘ah you’ve got twins!’
“He doesn’t even fit in his carry cot anymore because he’s so long, so he sits in a car seat on the buggy instead.”
Twyla-Bay is only 10 months older than her younger brother, but Alpha already weighs just under 11lbs lighter than her.
Twyla-Bay and her two older siblings were delighted to welcome their baby brother when he returned from the hospital at the end of last year.
Cherral said: “His siblings absolutely love Alpha.
“They always want to hold and feed him and even put his dummy in before I even get a chance to, so they’re helping out a lot.”
During her 30-week scan, it became clear that Cherral was expecting a larger-than-usual baby, and at 36 weeks, her baby bump ballooned.
Doctors believed this was due to Cherral’s gestational diabetes diagnosis - a condition which caused Alpha to consume sugary amniotic fluids in the womb.
But despite doctors’ predictions, Cherral and husband Tyson could never have imagined their son would be born weighing over a stone.
Cherral said: “When we first saw him, my first thought was he was not going to fit into any of the clothes I’d brought in the hospital bag.”
“Tyson even had to go home to bring back some 3-6 month clothes for him.
“When he was first born, I suddenly thought ‘oh wow, you are a big baby’ and then started asking the midwives how big he was.”
Weighing 14lb 15oz, Alpha claimed the title of the UK’s third largest new born baby on record, closely following Guy Carr who measured 15lb 8oz at his birth in 1992, and George King who tipped the scales at 15lb 7oz in 2013.
After delivery, midwives started excitedly Googling the measurements of the UK’s heaviest new born.
Cherral recalled: “One of the anaesthetists admitted to me that Alpha’s birth was the first one she hadn’t cried at because she was just so shocked by his size.
"Everyone kept laughing when his head came out. My husband Tyson was like: 'He's a chunky boy'.
“Tyson still calls Alpha his future Strongman, and already says he’ll need to do some more weightlifting training to keep up with his son one day.”
iLOVE YOU - A wife who missed her husband's death by minutes found his final phone notes including how to pay the mortgage - and how much he loved her
A wife who missed her husband's death by minutes found his final phone notes to her including how to pay the mortgage - and how much he loved her.
Katie Coelho, 33, walked into the ICU seven minutes after Jonathan Coelho, 32, was pronounced dead of coronavirus.
She regretted being unable to say goodbye then discovered he had penned an incredibly emotional goodbye in an 170-word phone note.
Beneath instructions on how to pay the mortgage, Jonathan left messages for his wife and children - Braedyn, two, and Penelope, one.
Jonathan wrote it the day before he was placed on a ventilator at a hospital in Danbury, Connecticut.
The note includes reassurance that "if you meet someone, know that if they love you and the kids that I love that for you".
It added: "I love you guys with all my heart and you’ve given me the best life I could have ever asked for.
“I’m so lucky, it makes me so proud to be your husband and the father to Braedyn and Penny.”
The stay-at-home mum from Connecticut, USA, said: “I don’t think if I was in Jonathan’s position, I would have thought to write a note - but that’s just how Jonathan was as a person.
“Trying to understand how he was in that mental state is so hard, but it’s also not surprising because of how much he loved me and loved the kids.
“I turned on his phone to get some pictures and when his phone turned on, his call log was on because he had tried to call me.
“So I cleared that out and right behind it was his notes and at the top of it, it had some personal information - who to contact at his job, passwords and telling me that we had a safe that I didn’t know we had.
“He was the grown-up in the relationship!
“Then I started reading down and the first line said, ‘I love you guys with all my heart,’ and I just screamed.
“I kept reading and it clicked.”
Jonathan’s symptoms included a migraine and a loss of taste and he tested positive for Covid-19 on March 25.
After developing respiratory problems on March 26, he was admitted to hospital and placed on a ventilator on March 31.
One of the last conversations the pair had was when Jonathan first came off the ventilator on April 7 - he told Katie that he might be discharged soon.
On April 22, doctors called Katie at 2:15 am to say that she needed to come say goodbye.
Jonathan's ashes are now part of two grandfather clocks - one set to the time Braedyn was born, and the other to Penelope's birth time.
Katie and Jonathan met at Western Connecticut State University and would go on double dates with their partners at the time.
The pair eloped on Valentine’s Day in 2013 - and got married in sweatshirts in their living room.
They had a larger wedding with family and friends in December 2013.
Katie said: “I never felt so secure in who I was as a person until I became his wife, because he just never made me feel anything less than amazing.
“It sounds so surreal because it’s like a person like that doesn’t exist, but he really did.
“He was my partner - there was nothing else I wanted to do except share my time, my laughter, everything with him.
She added: “Jonathan was just steadfast and I knew he loved me."
Note transcription:
“I love you guys with all my heart and you’ve given me the best life I could have ever asked for.
“I am so lucky it makes me so proud to be your husband and the father to Braedyn and Penny.
“Katie you are the most beautiful, caring, nurturing person I’ve ever met...you are truly one of a kind...make sure you live life with the happiness and that same passion that made me fall in love with you.”
“Seeing you be the best mom to the kids is the greatest thing I’ve ever experienced.
“Let Braedyn know he’s my best bud and I’m proud to be his father and for all the amazing things he’s done and continues to do.
“Let Penelope know she’s a princess and can have whatever she wants in life.
“I’m so lucky…”
“Don’t hold back and if you meet someone, know that if they love you and the kids that I love that for you.
“Always be happy no matter what!”
NEW YORK PROTEST ARREST - A British photographer has become one of the first members of the media to be arrested and charged while working at the American police brutality protests
A British photographer has become one of the first members of the media to be arrested and charged while working at the American police brutality protests.
Adam Gray, 33, a New York based photojournalist for agency SWNS, had been taking photographs at the rallies in city.
He says he was thrown to the ground by police with several officers climbing on top of him in order to restrain him and force him into handcuffs.
Despite showing his press pass that had been issued to him by the US State Department at the UN Plaza, Adam reports he was arrested and put into a police vehicle.
He was charged with unlawful assembly near Union Square and spent twelve hours through the night in custody amongst the protestors.
Adam said: "The whole time that I was being arrested, I was shouting that I was press and showing them my Foreign Press card but they just didn't seem to care.
"I get that in the heat of the moment you might get pushed or grabbed, but as soon as you say that you're press, it normally stops there but not this time.
"I've worked in many other countries doing work like this and never has it gone as far as this, I couldn't believe it."
Adam had been heading down 13st near Union Square on Saturday 30 May after filing Manhattan protest photos by Astor Place.
During his arrest, police claimed that they had made several orders for people to leave the area before Adam had arrived on the street.
Adam said: "I walked down the street taking photos as I went and then the cops rushed the crowd.
"I photographed the pandemonium that ensued of them pushing and grabbing protesters before one big cop came at me and pushed me to the ground with his truncheon to my chest.
"I smashed into the floor with my three cameras as three or four cops then got on top of me, restraining me and putting me in handcuffs as I shouted repeatedly that I was press."
Adam was put into a police van with about 20 other protesters and waited for half an hour inside before being driven down to 1 Police Plaza, Manhattan.
HE claims police were removing masks from the protesters and not returning them as they sat in close proximity to other people in holding.
Adam said: "I was explaining that I was accredited press at every opportunity.
"I got searched, processed, had my photo taken and then put into a large holding cell of 50-70 people at its fullest with zero social distancing.
"Police had removed masks from some protestors for their photo but then refused to give them back and did not offer any extra masks."
Adam was held in custody for eight hours until approximately 9:15AM on Sunday 31 May when he had his fingerprints and photos taken.
He was given a Desk Appearance ticket for a court date on 10 September 2020 for an offence charged of PL 240.10.
This offence means that 'a person is guilty of unlawful assembly when he assembles with four or more other persons for the purpose of engaging or preparing to engage with them in tumultuous and violent conduct likely to cause public alarm, or when, being present at an assembly which either has or develops such purpose, he remains there with intent to advance that purpose.
Adam was then released from the police station and is now back home in New York with a broken filter on his camera and a court date to wait for.
He said: "I was really shocked when they arrested me, I was just in total disbelief.
"We were held in such close proximity to other people in the holding cell and police weren't letting people have their masks.
"Considering there is a worldwide pandemic right now, it felt very irresponsible and dangerous of the police to do that.
"It was shocking to see how blase the police were about the risk of coronavirus and public health.
"Thankfully, I do not have any injuries but I am in disbelief at what happened."
Jon Mills, SWNS Picture Editor, said: ''It is deeply concerning that the NYPD appear to be trying to shut down honest and objective reporting.
''Bringing charges against a working photojournalist just for doing his job is an utter outrage and we will fight this every step of the way.'
CORONA RECOVERY - This is the heartwarming moment a husband and wife left hospital on the same day after RECOVERING from COVID-19
Image by: Simon Galloway
This is the heartwarming moment a husband and wife left hospital on the same day after recovering from COVID-19 as doctors and nurses cheered them on.
Jeff and Cheryl Poole received an emotional send-off from the entire staff with medics lining the hallways cheering and clapping as the couple were discharged.
The pair had spent more than two weeks in the ICU at UnityPoint Health Meriter in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, battling the deadly virus.
Cheryl, 59, was admitted to the ICU on March 18 and became the hospital's first patient to require a ventilator due for COVID-19.
Husband Jeff, 60, was admitted several days later and also needed a ventilator.
Jeff, from Waunakee, Wisconsin, said: "People keep saying this is a fake, it's not a fake.
She almost died. I almost died."
When the couple left the ICU, nurses placed them in neighboring rooms and helped them speak to each other on the phone.
Image by: Simon Galloway
Image by: Simon Galloway
Later they were able to have their meals together before they were discharged last week.
ICU nurse Beth Woodford said: "It was just really wonderful to see them communicate again.
"Of course being the wonderful person he is, Jeff gave Cheryl lots of words of encouragement. They both talked about getting better."
Beth Woodford said that the couples' recovery brought medical staff to tears.
She added: "There were a lot of tears of happiness in the room.
"The fact that they both made it through and they can get home together, it's just fabulous."
The married couple were finally discharged on April 17 after spending almost a month in hospital.
Nurse Dawn Cloutier added: "The send-off we had for them was a bit of a surprise to them and to me too honestly.
"It was just so cool to have people cheering them on as they left."
Jeff promised that once the threat of the virus has subsided, he and Cheryl will return to the hospital to see the staff who saved their lives.
"When everything is lifted, we can come back in here to see everybody."
Video by: Ashley Moran
WALL OF HONOUR - Window cleaner creates giant mural to NHS hero fundraiser Captain Tom Moore on the wall of his business
Image by: Adam Hughes SWNS
A company boss has paid tribute to Captain Tom Moore by having a giant mural of the NHS fundraising hero spray-painted on the side of his business.
The stunning graffiti artwork adorns the walls of Bradley Scott Windows in Tamworth, Staffs., after being unveiled on Monday (27/4).
Director Andy Farrington, 57, said he wanted to come up with a unique way to honour the 99-year-old war veteran who has captured the hearts of the nation.
The former army officer has raised more than £30 million for the NHS by walking laps of his garden in Marston Moretaine, Beds., ahead of his milestone 100th birthday.
The incredible artwork by Graffiti by Title took six hours to complete and covers the 140 sq ft wall at the side of the showroom with the words "Thank You NHS."
Image by: Adam Hughes SWNS
Image by: Adam Hughes SWNS
Image by: Adam Hughes SWNS
Andy said: “I was just totally inspired by Captain Tom and the phenomenal amount of money he has raised.
“On his walks, he has just kept going and going and going. I wanted to do something to honour him.
“We have done murals before and we had the blank space so I thought it would be nice to do some artwork of Captain Tom.
“He is an old school gentleman with a never die attitude that helped make Britain great, that's why we have taken to him I think.
"We should learn off him. He is a wonderful man.
“At 99, he gets up and does that. It’s simply amazing. He just puts a smile on peoples places in these difficult times.
“I am struggling like hell with my business, but it is good to give back a bit."
Graffiti by Title only had a few pieces of paper with four pictures of the pensioner for reference and completed the piece in under a day.
Married dad-of three Andy added: “That’s all he had to work with. One picture with his head and shoulders and one with him on his zimmer frame.
“He had one with the NHS logo on it and then another of the soldiers in the background. That was it. It's absolutely amazing what he has been able to do. It looks incredible.
“He started at 10am and finished at about 4pm. He has made it so lifelike. It looks like it could be a print but it's not, it's done by spray paint.”
Image by: Adam Hughes SWNS
Image by: Adam Hughes SWNS
Image by: Adam Hughes SWNS
Image by: Adam Hughes SWNS
Andy says the reaction to the display has been “absolutely crazy” with people flocking far and wide to come and take pictures.
He said: “I felt a bit bad with the number of people coming to see it, what with social distancing in place, but loads of people have come from everywhere to have a look at it.
“We've had cars stopping in the road and people getting out to take pictures. It has just been absolutely crazy how popular it has been.
“I thought it would get some local recognition but nothing like this scale.
“I have had messages from people in Belfast, one from Canada on social media. People have been so taken with the artwork.
"It's mad, I never expected this scale of reaction or how far it has spread."
Captain Tom, who served in World War Two, also recently topped the charts singing a duet of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ with musical theatre star Michael Ball.
He is the oldest person ever to get a UK number-one single and was honoured with a Pride of Britain award last Thursday (23/4).
Video by: Gabriella Petty
THE SKY’S THE LIMIT -This mesmerising footage shows a talented group of skydivers moving in a perfectly synchronised pattern that looks like a SPEEDING TRAIN
Image by: Matt Leonard
This mesmerising footage shows a talented group of skydivers moving in a perfectly synchronised pattern that looks like - a SPEEDING TRAIN.
The footage shows a skills training event known as ‘Flock and flow’ organised by ‘Momentum flight’.
Momentum Flight team members Matt Leonard, Max Manow and Tom Baker were on site at Skydive City, Zephyrhills, Florida, USA, to teach the participants necessary and safe piloting skills.
The footage shows skydivers performing 360 degree rolls in the air and lining themselves up in perfect patterns.
The highlight of the day comes when a perfectly timed ‘train’ of skydivers speeds through the middle of two other lines of their fellow Skydivers.
The footage was captured by Momentum Flight on March 12th and 14th 2020, just days before the national shutdown brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic
Full time momentum instructor Matt Leonard, 29, from Boston, Mass., said: “I’m the youngest of the team and currently a full time instructor.
"I used to be an engineering manager but gave it up to travel the world and teach canopy piloting.
“There was about three months of group preparation for planning the jumps, testing out some new ideas, and then trying them out before the camp.
"Myself and Max Manow have been jumping together for over four years and have hundreds of jumps together doing stunt work, exhibition projects, having fun and try out new things to teach the world.
"Between the three of us we have collectively amassed more than 23,000+ jumps in the sport and bring that knowledge to the camps.
“This footage not only reminds me of a time not in quarantine but more seriously it reminds me of the impact we had on so many students lives in four days.
"The skills they learned, the excitement. This is what I see when I watch the footage.”
Video by: Matt Leonard
Boy finds creative way to get his sporting fix during lockdown...
Image by: Anil Patel
A nine-year-old boy has found a creative way to get his sporting fix during lockdown - by playing badminton over the garden fence with his neighbours.
Adam Patel has been sharpening his game during the isolation period by rallying with the residents next door.
Dad Anil, 43, said his son had not been scoring with the unnamed couple, aged in their 30s - but the contest would get competitive.
Image by: Anil Patel
He filmed sports-mad Adam playing a point out over the fence - while pulling off some impressive trick shots.
Anil said: "[It] came about as Adam kept knocking tennis balls over. I suggested they play badminton which the neighbours duly accepted.
"Since then they have played everyday (bar yesterday) with the weather being so nice.
The neighbours are also working from home due to the current situation.
"There was no scoring - but it got competitive."
Anil and Adam live in Coventry, West Midlands.
Video by: Anil Patel
Watch hilarious moment man begins a drone journey to deliver toilet roll to his sister's house
Image by: Pete Farmer
A supermarket worker thought of an ingenious way to deliver some toilet roll to his sister - by using a DRONE.
Pete Farmer's job means he is right in the middle of the coronavirus panic-buying.
But that didn't stop him making sure his loved ones had the loo roll they needed.
The 48-year-old lives only two streets away from his sister, Debbie Brazier, and decided to send her the airborne package as a joke.
The video shows the drone limbering up for it's flight, which Pete describes as only a ten minute walk for him.
Image by: Pete Farmer
Image by: Pete Farmer
He works for Morrison's distribution centre and says keeping stock up is a difficult process at the moment.
"There is no shortage of toilet rolls or food, the warehouse is full and we are working long hours sending out supplies to the stores 24/7," Pete said. "There really is no need to panic buy, stock is plentiful."
Pete, from Northamptonshire, said his sister asked for toilet roll after his night shift.
"I sent it for a laugh and thought it was funny to send it over that way."
But Pete adds the social changes the Covid-19 pandemic has caused means his method might not be unusual for long.
"You never know in three or four months it might be the only way to send things. Drones could be the only way forward."
Video by: Gabriella Petty
This is the moment a man who has spent 13 years in a wheelchair took his first independent steps - after defying doctors and walking again
Image by: Liam Critchett
This is the moment a man who has spent 13 years in a wheelchair took his first independent steps - after defying doctors and walking again.
Liam Critchett, 24, was able to stroll unaided along his favourite childhood beach.
Doctors doubted he would be able to walk again after being diagnosed with spinal cancer aged 11.
The diagnosis saw him wheelchair-bound throughout his school years and spending the majority of his youth in hospital undergoing a whopping 50 operations to try and rid his body of the cancer.
But in January 2018 doctors told Liam his tumour started to grow back.
But now Liam is in his third year of intense physiotherapy and last summer took his first independent steps on a beach - the first time in over a decade.
He is now hoping to raise £13,500 to continue his private physio sessions to reach his goal of being able to walk again unaided.
Liam, from Scarborough, said: "Despite what I've been through and what I was told, I was just dead set on one day being able to walk again.
"Growing up I spent my time constantly in and out of hospital. I've had so many operations I've lost count but it's somewhere at the 40-50 mark.
"This past year has been incredible and I've made a lot of progress and want to keep that going.
"After years of hard work I was able to take my first steps outside on crutches.
"I also walked across the beach where I would spend my childhood summers.
"Not a lot of people will say this but coming home to find sand in your shoes and socks was quite a remarkable feeling. I haven't felt anything like that in years!
"I hope to show you can change almost anything through hard work."
Liam was diagnosed with a spinal cancer aged 11.
Image by: Liam Critchett
Image by: Liam Critchett
He started 14 months of chemotherapy but during the last cycle his body went into septic shock and doctors decided to stop.
He underwent two 14-hour operation to reduce the tumour and was fitted with spinal rods which had to be refitted every six months as he continued to grow.
In 2008, he was fitted with permanent rods but within six months they became infected and had to be removed.
Liam was then told he would have to have his spine fused, which stiffened his movement.
Liam said: "I remember I kept feeling very ill and kept waking up with bad headaches.
"At the time I was a really active and sporty person.
"I was really into football, tennis, cricket - I was always running about and seeming healthy.
"Then I started noticing I was struggling to walk so I was referred by the doctors to go to hospital and have a scan.
"I remember being with my aunt because my parents were in London but as soon as they were told they took a taxi to Leeds.
"At the time I didn't know what was going on but I remember them crying.
"It was just such a shock.
"The rods ended up causing a lot of nerve damage from my hips down and I had to keep going back up to Leeds for orthopaedic procedures and surgeries.
"When I had my spine fused it meant it wouldn't develop any curvature and made everything in a more fixed position.
"I managed to fight through and still sit my exams. I even made it to prom which meant an awful lot."
Image by: Liam Critchett
Image by: Liam Critchett
After finishing college, Liam started a full-time job as a tendering engineer and decided to take up sports again to help build his stamina so he could pursue a more intense physio course.
But during his road to recovery Liam was dealt another devastating blow in January 2018 when he told his cancer had returned.
Liam said: "For it to grow back ten years after being stable was just heartbreaking.
"It was extremely hard to take but with the support of my family and friends I got through it.
"Remarkably it was the first time I had made a full and speedy recovery.
"I continued with the high-intense physio plan which was great.
"I even had a football back at my feet for the first time in ten years.
"I was being pushed out my comfort zone but I knew I needed to do that if I was going to see any progress.
"Taking my first learning steps in an open space felt like a miracle.
"This was something doctors said I would never do again.
"This has made me determined to never give up."
Image by: Liam Critchett
Image by: Liam Critchett
Doctors performed a six-hour operation and Liam begun physiotherapy just four weeks later.
He continued his intense physio and became determined he would walk independently again.
Last summer Liam took his first steps on his hometown beach in just over a decade.
Liam said: "At the moment I'm 75:25 in terms of being in my wheelchair and walking on the crutches.
"It's more of a psychological thing to have someone nearby.
"But I managed to do it all myself.
"Not a lot of people will say this but coming home to find sand in your shoes and socks was quite a remarkable feeling. I haven't felt anything like that in years!"
Liam is now fundraising to continue physiotherapy costing £13,500-a-year.
He said: "I'm really pleased with my progress and continuing with the sessions will help to push my body to the maximum.
"Unfortunately due to the strain on specialist physiotherapists in the NHS and the sheer amount of patients they have to attend to the help I need isn't available on the NHS.
"My walking technique is improving during every single session.
"Last summer I was able to take outdoor walks unaided.
"Almost 11 years hometown beach every day of my childhood summer. It was a special moment for me.
"It has just completely boosted my confidence. I am just so grateful for those who have supported me in my progress. I would have never have got this far.
"My physios saying we are half-way through and everything going in the right direction.
"The best thing is hearing other people starting their own journeys after watching my videos."
To donate to Liam's Just Giving page visit; www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/liam-critchett
Video by: Gabriella Petty
Mum feared she'd die after she got trapped under her bed - for 13 HOURS
Image by: Claire Montello
A mum has told how her she feared she'd die after she got trapped under her bed -- for 13 HOURS.
Claire Montello, 39, pulled up her hinged Ottoman style bed to grab her MP3 player from the underbed storage.
The mum-of-three was reaching inside when the piston holding up the mattress failed - and the entire bed top crashed down on her arm.
She was trapped because she didn't have the strength in her one free arm to lift the bed up - and her phone was out of reach - and she feared she'd die.
Terrified Claire screamed and shouted to no avail and even had to lean on the bed - further compressing her arm - when her legs grew too tired to stand.
She was only set free when her husband Francesco, 61, came home from his night shift and lifted the bed up.
Image by: Claire Montello
Image by: Claire Montello
Claire from Grangewood, Chesterfield, said her arm was "flat as a pancake" but it then swelled up dramatically, before it "burst".
She spent two weeks in hospital where she endured four operations, and is waiting to see if she'll regain the use of her left arm.
Claire said: "I just can't believe it happened.
"I thought I was going to die.
'I had to keep making myself sick to keep the moisture in my mouth as a way to survive.
"I must have vomited about 40 times.
"Because the wardrobe was right next to the bed I couldn't even sit down.
"I knew Francesco wouldn't be back until the morning so I had no choice but to sit on the bed. I couldn't stand up for that long.
"I couldn't sleep through it I was in so much agony.
"I'm surprised I didn't pass out of the pain but I was and for the whole 13 hours."
Claire was home alone at 9.30pm on 23 January and went to get her MP3 from underneath her bed to listen to music.
Her MP3 player fell down a gap in the middle of her bed - which is split in half, with two sides which can be lifted up on a hinge near the wall, to access storage beneath.
She jumped off, lifted up one side, and was reaching under the raised mattress, when the bed smashed down on her arm - trapping it from the elbow down.
With her mobile phone out of reach and unable to lift the king-size bed up by herself, Claire said she thought she'd die.
She said: "I was screaming and shouting to get some kind of response but it doesn't help that I live next door to a 92-year-old man whose deaf.
"I could hear his TV.
"All the lights were on in my house so the chances of me getting some kip were nil.
"I had BBC News on loop and it was doing my head in. I was sitting there thinking 'Oh god not the sixth time I've heard this.'
"So it was quite hard taking my mind off what was actually happening.
"I had no choice but to go to the toilet there and then."
Staying awake throughout the whole night, it was only when care worker husband Francesco, 61, returned from an overnight shift at 10.30am she was finally set free.
"As soon as I saw Francesco it was the biggest sigh of relief," she said.
"He was swearing like anything. I just remember him saying: "Oh my f***ing sh**. What the f***?
"He then lifted it up as quick as he could.
"There was just this massive dent in my arm.
"Then it started swelling up like a football and just burst. It was terrible.
"I don't even know if I'll get full control of my left arm back. It's just a waiting game at the moment."
Image by: Claire Montello
Image by: Claire Montello
Husband Francesco added: "I just couldn't believe it when I saw her.
"I knew something was up when I walked in and all the lights were on and the TV was on.
"When I left to go to work she didn't seem ill so I thought it was weird she would have gone to bed without turning everything off.
"Then I saw her and I was swearing like anything. I just couldn't believe it.
"I lifted up the bed and when she got her arm out it was flat.
"I've never seen an arm go that flat before."
Claire was rushed to Royal Derby hospital and was kept in for a two week stay and underwent four operations.
Doctors performed a skin graft using skin from her thigh.
She had a muscle removed and doctors told her there is a 50:50 chance she will regain movement in her left arm, she said.
Claire said: "I'm now in absolute agony.
"I've got a splint on it and I can't feel anything.
"If that wasn't in there my arm would just be a floppy mess.
"I'm having to do everything with my right arm.
"I can't wash or do basic things by myself.
"I've had to get Franco to start tying my hair up. But to be fair for a first attempt he doesn't do a bad job.
"He's been absolutely brilliant. I don't know what I'd do without him.
"He's being going back and forth from work cooking me meals and looking after me.
"I want to thank the surgeons and the staff at Royal Derby hospital too. They've been great.
"I just can't really believe this happened.
"We bought it from a warehouse a few years back for £800 and have never had any issues.
"When I was in hospital Franco took a sledgehammer to it.
"There's no way we'll be using one of them again. We'll have to find somewhere else to keep our Christmas decorations.
"I just want to warn people about buying these kinds of beds.
"They can be death traps.
"If it were a kid they'd be locked in there like a coffin."
Video by: Claire Montello
