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Race Day Gone Wrong: Woman Found With Life-Threatening Injuries In Drain

She was decked out to the nines, now she's in a critical condition at Cairns Hospital

On Saturday, a woman aged in her 30s was enjoying race day in Cairns, the annual tradition where racegoers deck themselves out in their finest attire, drink champagne out of a plastic cup and watch horses pelt down a dusty track.

By that night, the woman was found clinging to life in a drain at the bottom of a pedestrian bridge, just a stone's throw from the Cannon Park racetrack.

A passerby spotted the woman at the bottom of the bridge over Clarkes Creek in Earlville at 9:15pm that night, clad in racing attire -- a white, pink and purple floral dress, a large pink racing hat complete with feathers and white high heels.

She was taken to Cairns Hospital and remains in a critical condition with life-threatening injuries.

Police believe the woman had been to the Cairns Cup racing carnival, but have so far been unable to explain how she ended up in the drain.

Authorities are calling on anyone who saw the woman, described as caucasian in appearance, walking on the bridge between the racecourse and the Caltex service station between 6pm and 9:15pm on Saturday to come forward.

A man who gave police information about the woman while they were conducting roadside breath tests that night on Mulgrave Road has also been asked to contact police.

A spokeswoman for Queensland Police told the Cairns Post that officers were investigating whether the woman had been assaulted or if she had fallen from the bridge into the creek.

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