April 24, 2001 12:35: A VISIT to the spectacular pyramids in Egypt ended in agony for Beckenham's town centre manager when she broke her wrists after being flung off a camel.

Cheryl Curr, 43, of Beckenham, was rushed to a nearby hospital after hitting the ground with such force she was also left with a bloodied nose and a black eye.

Mrs Curr and husband Martin were in Egypt celebrating their twenty second wedding anniversary when the accident happened.

The camel she was riding was spooked' by a horse and reared-up sending Mrs Curr flying.

Mr Curr was so surprised he also fell off his mount and ended up dangling in mid air when he caught his foot in a stirrup.

After the accident, Mrs Curr was taken to the appropriately named Pyramid Hospital where she stayed for 12 hours after Egyptian surgeons operated on her broken wrists.

The couple had arrived in Cairo for a four day trip the day before and were looking forward to seeing the ancient pyramids at Giza.

But things started to go wrong on the first night when the flight from Heathrow was delayed by more than five hours.

Mrs Curr said: "We had a lovely time looking at the pyramids and the Sphinx but then our guide asked us if we wanted to see them in style on the back of a camel.

"Everything was going well until a horse came along and spooked my camel which made him mad and he reared up on his back legs.

"The next thing I knew I was semi-conscious on the ground with a black eye, a bloody nose, a dislocated finger and broken wrists."

She added: "But the people where so kind and I was taken to somebody's house before they got me to hospital.

"The conditions at the hospital were basic and Martin saw some cockroaches under my bed."

"But I have to be positive. It could have been so much worse."

Mrs Curr hopes to return to work, in charge of Beckenham's town centre, next month once her wrists have healed properly.

Mike Addelman