Wigan mum's thanks for strangers who helped son after horrific bike accident

An off-duty paramedic even used magazines and an umbrella to create a splint for the schoolboy’s leg, so he could be taken to hospital.

Charlie Barrow, 14, has a long road to recovery ahead, but his mum Nicola Kirkwood is so grateful to everyone who stopped to help him.

The St Edmund Arrowsmith High School pupil came off his bike in Ashton last Monday evening.

Nicola said: “It was just a freak accident really. He went over the handlebars. He wasn’t going fast.”

His friend Luke Maddock phoned to tell Nicola.

“I thought he had been hit by a car,” she said. “Luke said Charlie had been in a serious accident, he was in a bad way but please keep calm.”

Nicola said she was “quite distressed” when she got to Charlie, but Luke was “absolutely fantastic”, reassured her and took her to her son.

There were quite a few people around and one man, Kevin Newell, introduced himself as an off-duty paramedic.

Nicola, from Winstanley, said: “He said Charlie had a really nasty break, it looked like it was his ankle. He told me to keep calm and not let Charlie know I was upset, as we needed to keep him calm.”

Another 999 call established it would take an hour for the ambulance to arrive, so Kevin made his own arrangements for Charlie.

He asked Kathryn Oakes, who had stopped to help, to get magazines from her car as he looked after Charlie.

Nicola said: “He kind of made a splint with the magazines. Then he ripped his golf umbrella up and with the spokes made a cage for Charlie’s foot.”

Kevin, Nicola’s partner Justin Smith and another man lifted Charlie into his mum’s car and she drove him to Wigan Infirmary.

Charlie’s tibia and fibula snapped in the fall and a consultant said his injuries were so bad it looked like he had been in a motorbike accident.

His leg was realigned the next day and he was discharged with his leg in a cast.

Charlie will return to the hospital on Thursday so doctors can have another look once the swelling has reduced.

The teenager, who loves football, rugby and fishing, will be in the cast for up to 10 weeks and then need a smaller cast and physiotherapy.

But his mum is grateful for all the help he was given and launched a Facebook appeal to find the paramedic, not realising he was the father of one of Charlie’s friends.

Nicola said: “I want to say a massive thank you to everyone that helped. I told Kev I would replace his golf umbrella and I dropped around some beers. I took Kathryn a nice bottle of wine as well to say thank you.”

She still wants to thank the other people involved.

Nicola said: “All the hospital staff, from A&E up to the rainbow ward, were absolutely fantastic. I know I have managed to find these two people, but I believe there was another lady and a gentleman involved and I would like to thank them as well.”