Graduate falls into ditch and sprains ankle during hat throw - but still went out
A man was left with a sprained ankle after falling over while taking graduation photos - but still went on a night out after.
Tom Dines, 22, was busy taking some photos to commemorate his First Class Honours degree in Photography from Nottingham Trent University when he lost his footing.
As his mum, Victoria, 43, a nurse, captured a video of Tom launching his mortarboard cap into the air before he tumbled down a ditch behind him as he went to catch the hat.
Much to his mum's audible horror, Tom says he tried to walk it off but soon felt the searing pain as he was returning his gown.
He was rushed to A&E but after being told of the five-hour wait time, he decided a bandage and some painkillers would do, in a bid to enjoy his final night out.
Despite the pain, Tom made it through the night and took himself to A&E the following day after returning home to Essex where he was told he had sprained his ankle.
Tom, currently unemployed, from Brentwood, Essex, said: "Everybody I've spoken to feels sorry for me but they can't stop watching it
"It is quite funny, it's quite a dramatic fall.
"The pain was absolutely terrible though, I could barely put weight on it.
"It was the same day that we had the global IT outage so A&E wait times were really long.
"We must have been there for almost an hour and my nan, Susan, 78, was sick of waiting.
"They told us it would be a minimum of five hours and I didn't want to wait that long.
"So we went to get some bandages, an ankle brace and took some painkillers and then went out for the night - taking it slowly though."
Tom said the pain was exacerbated by a previous injury in the same area and says he's glad it didn't happen before graduating.
He added: "The day was pretty good until that point - I had a thoroughly good time.
"It would have been a nightmare if it had happened before.
"It was a very bad sprain and I had a previous minor injury to a bone there which made the pain worse I think."
Tom Dines, 22, was busy taking some photos to commemorate his First Class Honours degree in Photography from Nottingham Trent University when he lost his footing.
As his mum, Victoria, 43, a nurse, captured a video of Tom launching his mortarboard cap into the air before he tumbled down a ditch behind him as he went to catch the hat.
Much to his mum's audible horror, Tom says he tried to walk it off but soon felt the searing pain as he was returning his gown.
He was rushed to A&E but after being told of the five-hour wait time, he decided a bandage and some painkillers would do, in a bid to enjoy his final night out.
Despite the pain, Tom made it through the night and took himself to A&E the following day after returning home to Essex where he was told he had sprained his ankle.
Tom, currently unemployed, from Brentwood, Essex, said: "Everybody I've spoken to feels sorry for me but they can't stop watching it
"It is quite funny, it's quite a dramatic fall.
"The pain was absolutely terrible though, I could barely put weight on it.
"It was the same day that we had the global IT outage so A&E wait times were really long.
"We must have been there for almost an hour and my nan, Susan, 78, was sick of waiting.
"They told us it would be a minimum of five hours and I didn't want to wait that long.
"So we went to get some bandages, an ankle brace and took some painkillers and then went out for the night - taking it slowly though."
Tom said the pain was exacerbated by a previous injury in the same area and says he's glad it didn't happen before graduating.
He added: "The day was pretty good until that point - I had a thoroughly good time.
"It would have been a nightmare if it had happened before.
"It was a very bad sprain and I had a previous minor injury to a bone there which made the pain worse I think."