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One boy in induced coma, another impaled after accident in Melbourne |
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| A NINE-year-old boy is in an induced coma after being knocked off his bike while another boy was impaled on his bicycle handlebars and is in hospital.
Paramedics said the nine-year-old fell onto the road and hit his head, after appearing to have been clipped by a car in south-eastern Victoria about 5.45pm (AEDT) yesterday. Intensive care paramedic David Kervin said when crews arrived at the scene in Garfield North, they found the boy had a serious head injury and suspected spinal and internal injuries. Mr Kervin said the boy was fitted with a neck brace - in view of the potential for a spinal injury - and given pain relief and fluids to help stabilise him. "The boy's head injury was quite significant, so we gave him a combination of drugs to put him into an induced coma," he said. "We then inserted a breathing tube into his lungs and took over breathing for him". In a second incident involving boys and bikes on Thursday evening, a 12-year old boy is in hospital after he was impaled on his bicycle handlebars. Paramedics called to Keysborough in Melbourne's south east just before 9pm (AEDT) arrived to find the boy laying on a track in pain and his handlebars embedded in his thigh. "It appears he'd been riding on a gravel track when he lost control and came off, with the handlebars going into his thigh about five inches (12.7cm) deep," said intensive care paramedic John Wright. "We didn't want to remove the bar from the 12-year-old's leg as that can be very dangerous," Mr Wright said. Paramedics placed a drip in his arm and the boy was given fluids and pain relief while emergency crews worked around him. He was also fitted with a neck brace to protect against spinal injury. Once the bike was dismantled, the boy was taken to the Monash Medical Centre with the bar still embedded in his thigh. Mr Wright said the boy was very calm and brave, given the circumstances. |