Evesham Journal
WICKHAMFORD, Englad — The mother of a boy who became impaled on a bicycle brake lever says her son is lucky the freak accident wasn’t more serious.
Sarah Osborne’s son Christopher Ballard, aged 14, was with his brother Adam and their friend Josh, both 11, in a wooded area at Wickhamford when he fell from his bike and the brake lever became lodged in his thigh.
Mrs Osborne said her son was lucky the metal lever stayed lodged in a layer of fat underneath the skin; an inch or two either way and he could have severely damaged arteries, making the incident far more serious.
“The lever stayed in the fatty area under the skin and didn’t touch any nerves, arteries or bones so we think he was very lucky. If he had damaged the femoral artery, being so far from help, the situation would have been much worse,” she said.
The incident happened when the trio were enjoying a day out during their school summer holidays. They went to use the jumps in the woods off Washington Road as they had done before and as Christopher fell, the handlebars twisted, leaving the lever impaled in his thigh.
Mrs Osborne, of High Street, Badsey, praised the three boys for their reaction to the harrowing incident last Thursday afternoon.
“Adam stayed with Christopher and Josh came to find me. We called the emergency services and met them at the woods as we had to help them find the spot where he was injured. I am proud of all of them for staying so calm.”
Firefighters used cutters to detach the lever from the bike and, with it still embedded in his leg, Christopher was carried on a stretcher to an ambulance before being airlifted to Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
Mrs Osborne added that with stitches and having to temporarily use crutches, he was none the worse for wear for the ordeal. “He will have a good story to tell everyone when he goes back to Evesham High School in September,” she said.
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