A 12-year-old boy from Cwmbran, Wales, was hospitalised after his arm became impaled on a door handle during a game of tag, requiring an air ambulance to sedate him before he could be freed.
Ollie Davey was visiting a friend's house when the incident occurred. His mother, Natalie Davey, a 35-year-old hairdresser, was finishing her shift when she noticed several missed calls from her son. One of Ollie's friends answered and told her his left arm had become lodged in a door handle and that an ambulance had been called.
Initially dismissing the boys as being "dramatic," Natalie was horrified when they sent her a photograph of the 12-year-old's impaled arm and felt "sick."
Game of tag turns dangerous
Ollie explained that the group had been playing tag when somebody slammed a door, accidentally catching his arm in the process. He 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."
By the time Natalie arrived on the scene, Ollie had been trapped for approximately an hour, with paramedics and firefighters working to determine how to safely release him.
Air ambulance called for sedation
An air ambulance was ultimately called so that medics could sedate Ollie before firefighters and paramedics successfully freed his arm from the handle. Natalie said: "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."
Ollie was rushed to The Grange University Hospital, where doctors were concerned he may have sustained serious tendon damage. He ultimately required only surgery to clean and stitch the wound.
Recovery and warning
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.
Natalie described Ollie's friends as "amazing" for looking after him while they waited for help. She said: "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."
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. She 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."
