TCU employee injures left hip in SC
Doctor says surgery to repair damage scheduled for today at Harris

By Ram Luthra
Staff Reporter

TCU employee Anita Doughty broke her hip Thursday morning as she was checking room schedule cards on the second floor of the Student Center, said Larry Markley, director of the Student Center.

Doughty, 59, said she was walking down the hall about 9:15 a.m. when she felt a sharp pain on the lower-left side of her hip. She immediately fell to the ground and screamed for help.

“My leg just basically buckled under me,” Doughty said from the hospital. “Everything happened so fast that it was hardfor me to actually remember the pain.”

As of Thursday night, doctors had not determined the cause of the break.

Physical Plant employee John Larson heard Doughty calling for help and came her aid. Larson said he was on his way to work on an air conditioning unit when he heard the screams.

“I didn’t see the fall, but I heard a loud scream,” Larson said. “(Doughty) was in extreme pain, so I called campus police and informed them.”

TCU police officer John Carter said he was the first to come to the scene, and he noticed that Doughty’s hip was out of place.

Doughty was transported from the second floor of the Student Center on a gurney by Medstar paramedics to Harris Methodist Southwest Hospital.

Doughty said she had never had problems with her hip before the accident.

“I have had problems with arthritis in my feet and knees for about seven years,” Doughty said. “Sometimes I had some irritation on other parts of my body, but that was because of the arthritis.”

She said the floors weren’t wet or slippery at the time of her fall.

Doughty has been working at TCU since April as a receptionist at the Student Center Information Desk.

Doughty will spend the night at the hospital. She said rods and pins will be inserted into her hip during surgery to repair the damage today.

Ram Luthra
r.d.luthra@student.tcu.edu