ATLAS - A village woman sweeping her back deck had a scare after it collapsed into her backyard Monday afternoon, sending her tumbling down with it.
Sharon Lee Noble, 62, of 444 E. Columbia Ave., suffered some scrapes and bruises, and admittedly a bit of embarrassment after the wooden deck faltered about 4:25 p.m. She was alone and tidying up when it fell.
"Next thing you know, it came down. I didn't hear any creaking or anything," Noble said.
After crashing to the ground about 10 feet below, she said she checked to see if she could move her fingers and toes and was sure she was in good health. She couldn't, however, pick herself up beneath a pile of typical deck fixtures - a cooler, furniture, a large tomato plant, the soil from which speckled her clothing along with her bare arms and legs.
An unnamed neighbor came from across Liberty Street at the rear of Noble's home, called 9-1-1 and then helped her out of the debris and to her feet.
Some 20 minutes after the collapse, Noble stood at the bottom of her backyard near Liberty Street and puffed busily on a cigarette, hoping to calm her nerves. It hadn't worked all that well. She extended her right arm and her hand continued to tremble.
"I keep seeing dollar signs," she said as she looked toward the collapsed deck, which she guessed had been built between 10 and 12 years ago. "I hope my homeowner's covers it."