Warning: This story contains graphic images
These shocking photographs reveal how a simple game of tag took a devastating turn – leaving a schoolboy impaled on a door handle for an hour.
Natalie Davey was finishing her shift at work when she noticed several missed calls from her son Ollie Davey, who had been visiting a friend’s house in Cwmbran, Wales.
The 35-year-old recounted how one of Ollie’s friends rang to tell her that his left arm had become lodged in a door handle and that an ambulance had been summoned.
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While the hairdresser initially dismissed the boys as being “dramatic”, she was horrified when they sent her a photograph of the 12-year-old’s impaled arm and felt “sick”.
Ollie explained that the group had been playing tag when somebody slammed the door, accidentally catching his arm in the process, reports the Daily Star.
Stomach-churning images show the youngster’s forearm with the unmistakeable outline of the metal handle clearly visible beneath his skin.
By the time Natalie arrived on the scene, Ollie had already been trapped for approximately an hour, with paramedics and firefighters working to establish how to safely release him.
An air ambulance was ultimately called so that medics could sedate Ollie before firefighters and paramedics successfully freed his arm from the handle.
Ollie was rushed to The Grange University Hospital, where doctors were concerned he may have sustained serious tendon damage, however he ultimately required only surgery to clean and stitch the wound.
The youngster was discharged that evening before returning to hospital early the following morning for an operation. Natalie, a mother of two, revealed that her son has since made a complete recovery and has returned to riding his bike and playing football following a week-long course of antibiotics.
Ollie, from Cwmbran in south Wales, said: “It was a game of tag. We were running around in the house and someone slammed the door and I put my arm to stop it from slamming on me and the door handle went through my arm.
“It did hurt but it wasn’t that bad, I was scared.”
Natalie explained that she became aware something was wrong when she noticed several missed calls from Ollie. Natalie said: “I was about to leave work and saw I had a few missed calls from him [Ollie]. I assumed he wanted a lift or some money.
“When I phoned back one of his friends answered and said he had his arm stuck in the door handle and that they had called an ambulance.
“I didn’t think it was going to be what it was, I thought they were being a bit dramatic. He sent me a photo and I could see his arm was actually stuck on the door handle.
“When I got there, there were paramedics and firemen, they were trying to come up with a plan. They had to call an air ambulance to sedate him.
“They sedated him and when he had gone to sleep, they managed to take him off the door handle, just by pulling him out. I couldn’t look.
“He was grey and sweaty when I got there, I think he was in shock. He was in pain [but] he wasn’t crying. He was really brave. I was shocked, I felt sick. It still doesn’t feel quite real that that’s what he did. I was very worried about him, I felt better once he was off the door.”
A grateful Natalie said Ollie’s friends were ‘amazing’ looking after him while they waited for help.
Natalie said: “They were just messing around. He went to the living room and as he was running his arm was behind him.
“Someone went to slam the door and his arm didn’t get out of the way quick enough. He said he didn’t realise immediately it was his arm. His friends were all amazing, they all looked after him. He had a bit of weakness in his arm to start with but now he seems fine, so they’re not worried at all.
“He gets a bit sore around the wound but he’s back to being his normal self and on his bike and playing football.”
Relieved that the incident didn’t lead to more severe harm, Natalie is now telling Ollie’s story to draw attention to the potential hazards of boisterous play indoors.
Natalie said: “I thought maybe he would damage his bones or have more serious injuries, he was really lucky. It’s the running and the doors. You don’t think it’s going to happen, but it can happen to anyone really.
“It was a complete freak accident.”
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