Spider Anne! Incredible moment cleaner, 71, is dragged into the air through shop shutters – before shopkeeper rushes out to help her down
- CCTV footage shows the woman standing outside the Best One supermarket in Tonteg
- Do you know ‘Ann’? Email megan.howe@mailonline.co.uk
This is the incredible moment a grandmother was dragged into the air by a shop’s electric shutters just as they opened that day.
CCTV footage captured 71-year-old Anne Hughes standing outside the Best One supermarket in Tonteg, South Wales, just before 8am on Monday.
However, as she stood with her back to the entrance, the bottom of her raincoat got caught behind the store’s shutter.
As he rises, he drags poor Anne upstairs, leaving her hanging upside down and desperately reaching for her shopping cart.
In her home near the shop, Anne said: ‘I was just standing there when my coat got stuck and I went upstairs. I thought: freak out!
‘People say it can happen to anyone, no, it can only happen to me! Luckily I have a good sense of humor.’
Within moments, the shopkeeper runs out and unties Anne before setting her safely back on her feet.
Anne Hughes, 71, (pictured) was standing outside her village’s newsagents when the shutters opened
In the photo: The woman holds her shopping cart while she is turned upside down
The images were posted to social media by the store and have gone viral in the past 24 hours, being viewed and shared hundreds of thousands of times.
Best One bosses insisted the customer was unharmed in the bizarre incident.
They joked: ‘Don’t hang around like Ann, come to the best to get the best deals! The only thing going up in this store is our staff, not the prices!’
Anne had a bruised face and a black eye, but said this was the result of another accident and not her shocker.
She said: ‘I have been suffering from falls for the past six months and the doctors at the hospital think it is due to low blood pressure – which was rising at the time.
‘I was lucky my jacket didn’t get ruined because I really didn’t want to land on my face again.’
In the photo: The shopkeeper rushes to help her downstairs
Anne has been working as a cleaner in the popular village shop for more than five years.
Her colleagues said she saw the funny side after watching the CCTV footage of her shutter surprise.
A colleague said today: ‘She is a lovely lady and it was quite a surprise for her.
‘But luckily she wasn’t injured in any way. We know customers watched the video, and we’re just glad she’s doing well.”
Villagers praised Anne for not panicking during the ‘absolutely terrifying’ incident.
One said: ‘Fair play to her! I hope she’s doing well, and I suspect she’ll see the funny side of it.”
Another said: ‘Omg poor Ann!! Bless her heart. I’m glad she’s doing well xx’
The shop is located at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac next to a beauty salon and newsagents.
Do you know ‘Ann’? Email megan.howe@mailonline.co.uk