CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Corpus Christi woman is continuing to recover after taking quite the tumble when her entire leg fell into an uncovered irrigation pipe.
It happened at last weekend's Dia de los Muertos Festival along Chaparral Street in Downtown Corpus Christi which was packed with hundreds of people.
"I'm doing okay, it's still very hard to walk," Stephanie Martinez said.
Martinez showed 3NEWS her injuries after a downtown visit left her on crutches with an injured knee.
It was dark and the streets were packed.
"I just took a real quick wrap around and immediately just fell in," she said.
The uncovered irrigation valve box just off the sidewalk, she said, is about five to six inches wide and quite deep, and was hidden by vegetation at the corner of North Chaparral and Schatzell streets.
"My entire leg fell through and there were several people that did have to help me up out of the drain," Martinez said. "It scraped up the entire side of my knee and some toward the front bruised very badly, very swollen."
Big events like the First Friday ArtWalk can attract big crowds to downtown.
You've probably walked past the pipe yourself without even giving it a second glance.
Martinez admitted she wasn't looking down.
"You are just headed where the crowd is going, looking at the food trucks, vendors, not looking at where your feet are," she said. "We came back the next day and it was not covered still. They had covered it with a sandbag that night and then it was moved."
3NEWS went to the scene to check it out on Thursday and it was still uncovered.
After 3NEWS contacted City Manager Peter Zanoni crews with the Downtown Management District had it covered by the end of the day.
"Glad to see it patched up so no kids fall through and it's not worse for someone else to go through this as well," Martinez said.
The Downtown Management District sent 3NEWS this statement which read quote,
"Our clean team does a great job of thoroughly sweeping the district for safety hazards, responding quickly and efficiently to reported issues. With this issue already being repaired we do need visitors to say something if they see something. The city's [311] app is a fantastic resource to report potential hazards. We also want to remind visitors to stay on the sidewalk and out of the flower beds to avoid the irrigation systems and possibly exposed tree roots."
Meantime, Martinez has gone to the doctor and will have to get an MRI.
Her message, "pay attention to the ground as much as much as you can, just be aware of surroundings. Hopefully the City at big events like this with ArtWalk or any festival that's big is to make sure these holes are covered beforehand."