Megan Heidgerd, pictured hours before the fall, survived after plummeting 40ft on to concrete

A drunk nursing assistant fell 40ft from a fourth floor apartment window to a concrete patio beneath and survived.

Megan Heidgerd, 22, had been drinking vodka and whiskey before plummeting from the bedroom window while trying to open it, landing on the concrete patio beneath in Pensacola, Florida.

She broke her right foot and knee, sliced open her left leg and sustained head injuries which required 20 stitches.

The hospital worker, from Cheshire, Connecticut, blamed the horror fall on mixing her prescribed Prozac medication with alcohol and believed she was going to die as she plunged to the ground.

She said: 'I was trying to grab the building as I was falling. I hit the concrete with my head and I didn't black out right away.

'I thought I was going to die. I said to myself: "This is it".'

Megan began taking Prozac two weeks before the accident after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and admitted she didn't follow advice to avoid drinking while taking the medication.

She said: 'I've never been on Prozac before. I know that you are not supposed to mix meds and alcohol but I didn't think about it, or I didn't really care.'

The nursing assistant tried to open the window (pictured) to get some air and, in her drunken state, slipped out and plummeted to the ground

She broke her right foot and knee, sliced open her left leg and sustained head injuries which required 20 stitches

She began drinking vodka with a friend at 8.30pm and her roommate joined them an hour later and the liquor flowed.

Megan cannot recall exactly how much she drank in the course of the evening but at some point, the group switched from vodka to Fireball, a cinnamon-flavored whiskey.

She said: 'I remember being cautious because even without meds, you shouldn't drink too much.

'I went to the store and I bought three tiny bottles of vodka and I told myself that was all I was going to drink for the night.

'We started fighting about what music to play and I remember being a little mean about it being my speaker.

Megan blamed the horror fall on mixing her prescribed Prozac medication with alcohol

Megan does not have serious head injuries but is covered in scrapes and bruises and sliced open her leg

'I was offered a Fireball and I just said yes.'

At around midnight, Megan's friends went to see other friends in the apartment building and Megan was left alone in her roommate's bedroom.

She tried to open the window to get some air and, in her drunken state, slipped out and plummeted to the ground.

She said: 'It's really fuzzy to remember. I was opening the window to get some air.

'When you are drunk, you don't know what you are doing. I slipped - I was trying to grab the building as I was falling.'

On her way down to the ground, her leg caught on a wooden fence which paramedics believe saved her life.

She said: 'There's a wooden fence around the pool area and they say that my leg caught that.

Megan cannot recall exactly how much she drank in the course of the evening but at some point, the group switched from vodka to Fireball, a cinnamon-flavored whiskey

'They think that's what saved me. I was still awake when I landed.

'I was trying to crawl around for someone to find me. I'm not sure who did find me.'

When Megan woke up, she was in Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola.

She said: 'I woke up after they had done the surgery on my leg. Doctors told me I'd broken three bones in my foot and broken my knee.

'The other leg caught the fence and it went through to the bone. They had to stitch my leg wound up and the wounds on my head. I had about 40 stitches in total.'

Luckily, Megan does not have serious head injuries but is covered in scrapes and bruises.

The 22-year-old has sworn off alcohol after the accident and is staying with a family member in a nearby town and hopes to return to work in a few weeks

On her way down to the ground, her leg caught on a wooden fence which paramedics believe saved her life

She said: 'I can't walk for a while. My leg is in a cast and I need a wheelchair to get around.'

She is now staying with a family member in a nearby town and hopes to return to work in a few weeks.

Megan has sworn off alcohol after the terrible accident.

She said: 'I'm done with drinking. It's not worth it. I'm quitting forever.'

She added that she was inspired to share her experience so that others won't make the same mistake she did.

'Don't drink if you are taking antidepressants. It's not like normal drinking.

'It really messes with your judgement. It throws you off.'