By Katie Davies
The Journal
SUNDERLAND, England — A teenager was airlifted to hospital after impaling his leg on his bike handlebars. The 13-year-old boy was cycling with friends at Penshaw Monument, near Washington, when he fell from his BMX and the handlebars skewered his thigh. He was last night being treated at Newcastle General Hospital but doctors don’t yet know whether he will have lasting damage from the accident.
The boy, from the Farringdon area of Sunderland, is believed to have been practising jumps and tricks on his BMX bike when he fell at around 2.30pm yesterday.
He fell onto the bike, and the handlebar pieced the top of his leg, lodging several inches inside. Fire fighters from Sunderland Central Community Fire Station cut the handlebars from the bike so that he could be airlifted to hospital, where surgeons removed the metal and treated his wound.
Paramedics Jane Peacock and Stuart Thompson were at the scene. “He was really, really brave,” said Jane. “He was such a good kid. We didn’t have any tears at all, even though he must have been in a lot of pain.
“He had been out with a group of friends on their bikes and he was very, very unlucky in how he fell.
“The handlebars had gone inside his leg a good way. We never try to remove anything impaling the body at the scene so he was cut free of the bike and taken to hospital for treatment. It is difficult to say how badly his leg will have been damaged at this stage but he was conscious and in a stable condition. He will have been kept in hospital overnight.”
A Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “At 2.34pm today eight fire fighters attended Penshaw Monument when a child became impaled on the handlebar of his bicycle.
“The casualty became impaled after falling from his bike.
“Fire and rescue personnel detached the bicycle from the handlebar which had pierced the casualty.
“The casualty was conveyed by air ambulance to Newcastle General Hospital to have the handlebar removed and for treatment.”
He was such a good kid. We didn’t have any tears at all, even though he must have been in a lot of pain
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