A Colne grandmother has been left “gutted” after plans to make her third and final journey to Brazil were thwarted following a fall.
Maggie Randall was due to join a team called “Open Hands” this month to help build family homes in Campo Largo for those living with no running water or proper sanitation.
But now the 72-year-old is unable to embark on the Mission Direct trip after rupturing a ligament in her thumb. She is now awaiting an operation, and she has been told her thumb, elbow and hand could be in plaster until Christmas.
Maggie, of Priestfield Avenue, said: “I am gutted, but I wouldn’t be able to do anything if I went out there.
“I was going up into the loft to cover everything up with dust sheets, and somehow my feet slipped and I came crashing down.
“I bashed my head on the ladder, had black eyes and my hip was really sore as well.
“I didn’t realise about my thumb until I tried doing things, and couldn’t get hold of anything.
“I was just so upset when I realised I couldn’t get to Brazil.”
Despite saying in August that the trip to Brazil would be her last, Maggie is now hoping she will be able to visit one more time next year.
She was also hoping to see a young girl called India, who she met on her first visit to the country, and so will be keeping in contact with her over the next 12 months.
Maggie, who attends The Mission, in Nelson, and who has previously helped build simple houses for slum dwellers and orphanage homes, added: “They are not running the trip next Easter, so that means waiting a year before I can go.
“I am going to have to try and get there. I have got a big holdall stuffed with gifts for the kids out there, and I was supposed to be visiting a girl from the first time I went to Brazil.
“I shall go on doing some fund-raising, and I shall send a cheque so at least money is getting out there.”