Dame Mary Berry has revealed she had to wait three-and-a-half hours for an ambulance after breaking her hip.
The 86-year-old TV presenter underwent surgery and was admitted to the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, for ten days after the accident in August.
Dame Mary told the Daily Mail’s Weekend magazine she was in her garden picking sweet peas when she tripped over some bricks and ‘went down really hard’.
She said she was ‘perfectly happy’ to wait for the emergency services, despite one of her feet ‘turning out’. Dame Mary, who now has a slight limp and is using a walking stick, told Frances Hardy: ‘I had a new knee a few years ago and I thought, “Oh, I’ve hurt my knee”.
Tripped: Dame Mary Berry (pictured above), 86, underwent surgery and was admitted to the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, for ten days after the accident in August
‘I sat quite still. I’d encourage everyone to have a phone with them always, when they’re out dog-walking, crossing a field... with a phone you can always get help.’
She called her husband Paul, who was in the house watching cricket, joking that he didn’t pick up as ‘the cricket’s more important’.
Her daughter Annabel was at a tennis tournament so she phoned her son-in-law Dan, who arrived within ten minutes.
She said: ‘He saw me and said, “I’ll get an ambulance”. I said, “Oh, no, I’m fine”, but he overruled me. He rang for the ambulance and they said, “We’re very, very busy”. It was Sunday afternoon and there were lots of football injuries and whatever.’
The former Bake Off judge, whose two dogs Darcy and Freddie were at her side the whole time, continued: ‘We waited for three-and-a-half hours, until 6pm, and quite right too! I was perfectly happy.
‘There may have been a road accident. I quite understood that they were busy and Dan was caring for me. He kept me chatting.
The TV presenter (pictured left, on Countryfile and right, in 2019) said she was ‘perfectly happy’ to wait for the emergency services, despite one of her feet ‘turning out’
‘When the ambulance arrived Dan told Paul. It was a shock for him, seeing me go off. They took me to the Royal Berkshire Hospital and they were so good at explaining. One foot was turning out and they said I’d broken my hip.’
Dame Mary, who had polio as a child, had surgery the next morning. ‘I was never nervous,’ she said. ‘I didn’t get a shiny new hip. They just repaired the old one and popped it back in. And oh, they were all lovely!’
The TV cook revealed that the nurses inundated her with pictures of their lemon drizzle cakes.
She used only paracetamol for pain relief and attributes her good recovery to ‘lots of physio’. She is trying to ‘walk in a straight line’ before returning to filming next month.
I didn't get a shiny new hip...they just repaired the old one and popped it back in! A major operation, ten days in hospital - but Mary Berry says she's on the mend after the 'first-rate' NHS stepped up to the plate
Dame Mary Berry is quite delighted by the food she was served during a recent hospital stay. Piping hot, nutritious and thoughtfully portioned for both small and hearty appetites.
‘It really tempted you,’ she says. ‘You hear about hospital food being awful, but we had a menu every day – several choices – and I particularly remember the meatballs with mustard sauce.
'And what was so clever was that you could choose the size of your portion. If you’re feeling pretty groggy and sorry for yourself you just want a little. And there was always fresh fruit and a choice of sandwich.’
Who’d have thought the nation’s most beloved TV baker and exacting cookery judge would be quite so complimentary about our habitually maligned NHS catering? But Mary’s praise for the food served at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, is matched by her gratitude to staff – from doctors and nurses to cleaners – who looked after her during a ten-day stay this summer.
Mary Berry, 86, (pictured) reflected on the 10 days she spent at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading after breaking her hip
Today, a walking stick and slight limp are the only signs of the surgery she underwent in August for a broken hip.
Stylish in navy slacks and a fuchsia pink lobster-print blouse, she is imperturbably bright and energetic. At 86 she’s working as hard as ever.
She has a new book coming out, Love To Cook – ‘I’ve written more than 80 books,’ she declares, surprised herself at this prodigious output – and there’s a BBC2 TV series to go with it.
Weekend readers can share in Mary’s simple, confidence-boosting recipes as a diverse and delicious selection – from Hoisin Chicken With Cashews to Roasted Vegetable And Coconut Curry and her favourite Pear And Almond Tart – is published in the magazine this week and next.
While many her age have sunk gratefully into sedentary retirement, Mary is as alert as ever, dispensing tips, sharing culinary skills and generally revelling in the joy of imparting to others the love of cooking that has informed her whole working life.
And to cap it all, just two months ago she had a major operation. How does she manage it?
Perhaps it’s her optimism. Resilience, fortitude and good humour – the qualities that saw the nation through the war – are Mary’s hallmarks.
The story of her accident is proof of this. It’s punctuated by humour and little homilies – there are valuable lessons to be learned even from misfortunes – and she doesn’t moan about a thing. Why, she’s even cheerful about her three-hour wait for an ambulance!
Mary said she was picking the last of her sweet peas when she tripped over some bricks and injured her hip. Pictured: Mary on the cover of Weekend magazine
‘We have raised beds in the garden and on a Sunday afternoon I’d gone out to pick the last of the sweet peas when I tripped over some bricks and went down really hard,’ she recalls.
‘I had a new knee a few years ago and I thought, “Oh, I’ve hurt my knee.” I sat quite still. I’d encourage everyone to have a phone with them always, when they’re out dog-walking, crossing a field… with a phone you can always get help.
‘First I phoned my husband Paul, who was in the house watching cricket. I don’t think he heard it ring – or if he did he thought, “Blow that. The cricket’s more important.”’ She laughs.
‘I knew my daughter Annabel was playing in a tennis tournament so I phoned my son-in-law Dan instead and he said, “I’ll be with you in ten minutes.” He saw me and said, “I’ll get an ambulance.”
I got my own room, maybe they thought I’d be trouble
'I said, “Oh, no, I’m fine,” but he overruled me. He rang for the ambulance and they said, “We’re very, very busy.” It was Sunday afternoon and there were lots of football injuries and whatever.
‘Dan went into the house and got lots of coats and put them all round me. My two dogs, Darcy and Freddie, immediately came and sat on either side of me and wouldn’t leave me.
'We decided not to tell my husband because it would have been quite a shock for him. Dan was concerned about the wait but I said, “I’ve got you. I’m warm. We can wait patiently.”
‘We waited for three and a half hours, until 6pm, and quite right too! I was perfectly happy. There may have been a road accident.
Mary (pictured) said she had her own little room in the hospital and everything was first-rate
'I quite understood that they were busy – and Dan was caring for me. He kept me chatting. When the ambulance arrived Dan told Paul. It was a shock for him, seeing me go off.
'They took me to the Royal Berkshire Hospital and they were so good at explaining. One foot was turning out and they said I’d broken my hip.
‘They operated next morning, first thing, and I was never nervous. I didn’t get a shiny new hip. They just repaired the old one and popped it back in. And oh, they were all lovely! I had complete confidence in the doctors, and the nurses were brilliant.
'Even with their masks on you could see their eyes smiling. Everything was done to such a high standard; even making the bed. As a Girl Guide I learned hospital corners, and there wasn’t a ruck in the sheets. Nothing was too much trouble.
A posy of roses, dusty-pink and sweetly perfumed, picked from Mary’s garden by her housekeeper Alison, sits on the table where we chat. For Mary, gardening and cooking go hand-in-hand, and she keeps her own veggie plot stocked with ingredients.
Mary visits allotment holder Terry Walton in South Wales in her new BBC2 shows (pictured)
‘We grow what we like to eat,’ she says. ‘Celeriac, carrots, spinach, onions, shallots, strawberries and raspberries. At the back door I’ve got five pots of herbs, the ones I use most for cooking.’
In the BBC2 show accompanying her new book, Mary visits allotment holder Terry Walton in South Wales (pictured, with Terry’s wife Anthea) and cooks lunch outside using freshly dug potatoes from his plot. They picnic on these with ham and homemade gooseberry chutney.
‘Terry is a breath of fresh air and I learned so much from him,’ says Mary, who never tires of learning and imparting knowledge.
‘My mantra is to share what I know.’ Will she ever retire? ‘I’ll stay on telly until I don’t enjoy it any more – and I can’t imagine that day coming,’ she says.
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‘So I haven’t a single complaint. Even the girl who cleaned took a pride in it. They told me, “Ring the bell if you need anything,” but I tried not to. There was no need.
'Everything was first-rate. And I was so lucky. It was all NHS and I had my own little room – maybe they thought I’d be trouble [she winks] – but they were
