A care worker has sued her bosses after she was attacked and choked unconscious by a 27-stone psychiatric patient.
Natalie Allen took legal action after she was assaulted at the St Agnes Centre at Gorse Hill Hospital in Beaumont Leys, Leicester.
Ms Allen, 42, of Stoney Stanton, said that despite the Leicester Partnership NHS Trust admitting responsibility three years ago they have not yet reached a final settlement.
Ms Allen, who was a health care support worker, said the attack in March 2011 has ruined her life.
The mum-of-three said: "She flew straight at me.
"She lunged at me, banged me up against the wall. I didn't have a second to think what I was going to do.
"I didn't have enough time to reach for my alarm. She'd got hold of my hand and my head around the neck – she had me in a lock, crushing me.
"We were going to the floor, falling. I was struggling to activate my alarm around my waist.
"I couldn't breathe. The last thing I remember is thinking 'God, I'm going to die here'.
"The kids went through my head. I must have pulled the pin on my alarm and that's all I remember. I woke up on a spine board with the ambulance people talking to me.
Ms Allen said she now takes 15 tablets a day to deal with her pain, her inability to sleep and her depression.
"My hair has fallen out and although I am only 42 I look and feel 92."
Ms Allen, who had worked for the NHS for 25 years, said she has been told she may never be fit enough to work again.
She said: "I loved my job I really did and it is terrible that I can no longer do it.
"I am just not the same person I was before the attack. I was happy and full of life and now I am irritable and depressed because of my injuries and constant pain.
"This has robbed my kids of the mum they used to have. My family is suffering the brunt of this living nightmare."
She said that the failure of the trust to fix a settlement is adding to her anguish.
She said: "It has been three and a half years since the attack and there has not yet been a final settlement."
Ms Allen's lawyer Mark Hatzer, of Slater & Gordon, said: "Natalie didn't feel safe there and knew there were too few staff working at the centre and suffered this traumatic attack as a direct result of the lack of staff.
"The Trust has admitted fault but have added to her distress and trauma by refusing to provide adequate financial support while she tries to recover from the injuries sustained."
A Trust spokesman said: "We are very sorry that Ms Allen has suffered this experience and injury.
"Our solicitors are working closely with Ms Allen's solicitors and it's hoped agreement will be reached soon.
"We take the safety and security of our staff very seriously and since 2011 have ensured that changes were introduced to reduce the risk, taking into account the complex needs of the patients cared for in this service."
