A falling tree in Ipswich in Storm Henk narrowly missed a community nurse and left her no choice but to climb to the other side to get home.

Tracy Chapman, a community nurse from Barham, was on her last patient visit of the day at Old Lodge care home in Copdock, when she watched the tree fall and miss her car in the driveway.

The tree, which fell just before 6pm on Tuesday, January 2, knocked some cables down with it and left the care home without internet and phone lines.

It narrowly missed Ms Chapman, who was about to leave to go home.

Ms Chapman said: "The wind had only just picked up, and all of a sudden it sounded really fierce and this all happened in the next 15 minutes.

"My car was parked and was about to come out of the building when the tree fell.

"I was so close: 30 seconds earlier I would have been under the tree. I would have been walking around my car where the tree landed.

"Something must have been watching over me."

The fallen tree blocked the entry to the drive, meaning the community nurse had to crawl through its branches in order to get home.

Ipswich Star: Community nurse Tracy ChapmanCommunity nurse Tracy Chapman (Image: Tracy Chapman)

She added: "I had to leave my car overnight as there was no access, and crawl through the tree to get out.

"My husband came to get me and guided me through the tree to get out.

Ipswich Star: The tree blocked the drivewayThe tree blocked the driveway (Image: Tracy Chapman)

"It was very shocking. You don't expect that on your last patient visit of the day. I was expected to finish at 6pm and didn't get out until 6.45.

"As a community nurse, the weather doesn't stop us going anywhere unfortunately!"

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