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Eleanor has a holiday to forget

She may only be seven years old but Eleanor Armstrong has just experienced a holiday that most adults would have nightmares about.

But despite a catalogue of disasters that has left the plucky youngster in plaster with a split kneecap, not to mention a tale or two to tell, she is still able to smile as she recuperates at home in Ovington, near Watton.

From a theft to a skiing accident, a passport mix-up to flight problems which almost prevented her from getting back into the UK, the Watton Junior School pupil has had more bad luck abroad in one week than most of us will have in a lifetime.

Things started to go wrong on the second day of the Armstrong family's half-term holiday to the Romanian mountains when Eleanor had her new £40 ski gloves stolen.

On day five, Eleanor had an accident on one of the drag lifts, slipped over and went hurtling down the slope before doing a somersault and coming to an abrupt and painful halt. “I knew immediately I had hurt myself but I didn't think I had broken anything,” said Eleanor. “The ski instructor called the doctor and I was taken by skidoo to the small doctor's surgery. I was then taken in an ambulance to the hospital and we found my knee was broken.”

Eleanor's mum, Janet, could not travel with her to the hospital because the crew insisted that Eleanor's ski instructor take the one place in the ambulance.

“I was told everything was fine,” said Janet, “but when I got to the hospital Eleanor was lying there in a cast. It was a bit of a shock.”

But the family's tale of woe did not end there. As they travelled back to Bucharest for the flight home, Eleanor had her Nintendo DS games console stolen when she was being helped off the coach.

A keen horse rider and swimmer who takes regular classes in jujitsu, Eleanor was banking on the DS to keep her amused while her leg is in plaster and she is unable to pursue her other hobbies.

But the problems did not stop when the family entered Bucharest airport.

Because of her plastered leg, the airline was not prepared to let Eleanor fly in economy as the cast would have prevented her adopting the brace position in an emergency.

After frantic calls between the insurance company and the airline, it was agreed that Eleanor and her mother could travel in first class. “It was nice, with big seats, cushions and proper cutlery but I would rather not have my leg in plaster for up to six weeks,” said Eleanor.

Almost home, but not quite, back on British soil the catalogue of calamity continued. In Bucharest, the family had to wheel Eleanor through a special customs point along with another family who also had someone with an injury. As they went through passport control, the families' passports got mixed up.

Eleanor said: “Someone called Julie had broken her foot and I ended up with her son's passport and he had mine. Somehow they got through passport control but we were stopped.” Luckily the other family realised the mistake while still in the airport and after being given back the correct passport, Eleanor was finally able to make it home.

Janet said: “All the way through the holiday we kept thinking that this has to be the worst thing that could happen and it has now got to the stage where it is quite funny to think about it all.”