Paper-boy was badly injured just round the corner from us this week (we
didn't hear anything even though it was a few hundred yards away and the
local paper was the first we knew). I assume he was wearing a helmet as
it almost certainly would have been commented on if he wasn't. It seems
it made no beneficial difference which is perhaps no surprise here.
Tony
Paperboy fights for life after road smash
Published on 12 October 2004
A PAPERBOY is in a critical condition after his bike was in collision
with a car.
The youngster was out on his round in Melbourn on when the accident
happened and he needed treatment at the scene for more than an hour.
The boy from the village is believed to be 13 and a pupil at Melbourn
Village College.
He suffered serious head injuries and a broken leg in the collision with
a silver Ford Escort at about 7.30am on Tuesday. The car driver was
uninjured.
The crash, at the junction of Water Lane and Chalkhill Barrow, was
attended by the Magpas on-duty emergency medical team of Dr David Bevan
and paramedic Del Fergusson.
Dr Bevan said: "He was rendered unconscious at the scene by the accident.
"Fortunately he was attended to almost immediately by a passing local GP
who did very well."
He said the GP was then joined by an ambulance crew and a paramedic in a
rapid response vehicle, before the Magpas team was called.
The emergency medical team anaesthetised the boy before he was taken to
Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, arriving shortly before 9am.
Dr Bevan said: "If this young man does well, there are a variety of
things that will have contributed to that chain, such as the fact his
airway was attended to quickly - it's impossible to underestimate the
importance of that."
The victim remains at Addenbrooke's, where his condition is described as
"critical but stable".
Road blocks were in place in Water Lane throughout the morning as police
launched their investigation.
One woman from nearby Greengage Rise, who did not wish to be named,
said: "It was an accident waiting to happen. It's a dangerous junction."
Another passer-by, who lives close to the scene, said: "There have been
plenty of near-misses; it's a very dangerous and busy road."
The scene was cleared at about noon.
Anyone who witnessed the crash is asked to call Cambridgeshire police's
road policing unit on (01480) 456111