Plaid Cymru candidate on crutches after leafleting injury
Richard Youle, local democracy reporter
A candidate in the council elections has had to suspend canvassing after rupturing his Achilles tendon while delivering leaflets.
Matthew Ward was out and about in Swansea’s Fairwood ward when he tripped backwards off a doorstep, heard a snap and fell to the ground.
“I could not get up,” he said. “I thought I had broken my ankle.”
Struggling on the ground, he called out to a fellow Plaid Cymru party member who was delivering a leaflet to the property next door at the time.
Mr Ward’s colleague, Michael Williams, who is Plaid’s deputy chairman for Gower, then drove him to Morriston Hospital’s emergency department.
“When I first went in, it was announced there was a 15-hour wait,” said Mr Ward, aged 36. “Some people had been there from six or seven o’clock the evening before. It was really full.”
He said he saw a triage nurse after around an hour and a half to two hours, who gave him paracetamol to help with the pain.
After a further hour Mr Ward said he was seen by a doctor in the hospital’s minor injury unit and sent for an X-ray, which confirmed nothing had broken. It was then established that his right Achilles had no resistance.
“Within around four hours I was in and out – I was really, really fortunate,” said Mr Ward, of Upper Killay. “The doctors and nurses are under a lot of pressure – I’m really appreciative of what they’re doing. It’s frustrating for them and obviously frustrating for patients.”
Mr Ward said his right leg would be in a special support boot for up to three months, but that he expected to go back to work early next month to Gower College Swansea, where he is a learning support assistant.
He said the forthcoming council elections, which take place on May 5, was his first involvement in politics. He said he felt he was building momentum prior to last Sunday’s accident.
“I’m really passionate about where I live,” he said.
Listening to people in Fairwood and trying to get them a fair share of investment would, he said, be his priorities if elected.
“In Upper Killay we’ve got no amenities, no shops, and the local bus service is so hit and miss,” he said. “We are the gateway to Gower here.”
Mr Ward is up against three other candidates for the Fairwood councillor position: Phil Ebden, of the Liberal Democrats, Labour’s Jane Harris, and Paxton Hood-Williams, of the Conservatives.
Voters in Swansea will choose 75 councillors on May 5 to represent the city and county for the next five years.
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Two of the candidates in Fairwood don’t live there and the other one is a Tory! Plaid has clearly selected a committed young man who lives in Upper Killay with 4 kids in local schools.
Shows the hard work Plaid are putting into their campaign, he’s the best man for the job!
must be a slow news day for this to be newsworthy.
Talk about things being slow. How’s it going?
pretty well thanks for asking Mr Cymro lol
Matt is a young man who has the Community very much at heart. He will make an excellent Councillor. Too much of our money is being spent on on City Centre projects.
Hats off to him. Plaid’s Matthew Ward injured himself in the line of duty. If voters want a candidate that puts them first over his own wellbeing he’s their man.
Oh OW! That is a nasty injury to get. Long recovery time and it will probably be weak for years afterwards.
There are worse injuries of course, but this can be gift that keeps on giving
Another Plaid Cymru candidate Rhiannon Barrar …Dunvant Killay also injured herself while delivering leaflets week before last. Very similar scenario resulting in fractured right arm. After a few days, with arm in sling, she with the other 2 Plaid candidates for the ward, has been out every day knocking on doors listening to residents. Want a councillor who who will work for you despite setbacks…Rhiannon is your choice.
He’s a good man tbf. Every time we’ve spoken he’s been thinking about his community.