Hannah Somerset was going to catch the bus on Eglinton Ave. W to get to work, when rubble rained down on her from a nearby construction site, she says.

“In a split second, I heard a squeaking sound over my head and when I looked up everything came coming down. Something hit me in my head and I passed out,” she said.

The next thing the 66-year-old remembers is someone holding her hand and asking her repeatedly what her name is.

When she came to, she discovered that her left foot was trapped under a long steel pipe, she said.

She was among the seven people who were hurt and rushed to hospital after the building facade and construction scaffolding on the former House of Chan Restaurant, at Eglinton Ave. and Bathurst St., collapsed on April 18.

The structure was being demolished to make way for the Forest Hill station, one of 25 new stations on the new light rail transit line slated to open in 2021.

Among those taken to hospital that day were a 7-month old baby and its parents. A construction worker was able to walk away from the incident, but others had to be pried out from under bars and bricks by firefighters.

Somerset, a personal support worker, suffered fractures in both legs in addition to the knock to her head. Her daughter, Yolandi Noble, 32, says doctors aren’t sure if her mother will be able to walk again without help. “Because it’s multiple fractures she can’t put any weight on (her leg). She needs assistance doing everything,” she said.

Somerset says she is considering legal action against the city and contractors responsible for the construction site.

“This sort of thing is a tragedy and it shouldn’t happen,” said her lawyer Ryan Murray, of Oatley Vigmond. “While we all need additional transit in Toronto and we all need more infrastructure it has to be done in a safe way. People like Hannah can’t get caught in the crossfire in the name of progress.”

Anne Marie Aikins, a Metrolinx spokesperson, said she is aware of a possible lawsuit.

“Given the matter is potentially before the courts it would not be appropriate for me to comment further,” she said.

With files from Sarah-Joyce Battersby and Dan Taekema

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