A man has described the horrific moment he became impaled on railings during a day out shopping.
Ian Walker, a 30-year-old from Birkenhead, told CheshireLive he was "losing a lot of blood" and could feel himself "losing consciousness" before several kind strangers came to his rescue. Ian was walking down Sealand Road in Chester towards the nearby retail park when the terrifying incident occurred at around 10.30am on Saturday.
The stand up comedian was planning on getting some shopping done but ended up in A&E at the Countess of Chester Hospital instead. He lost his footing when passing the Chester West Employment Park after walking too far down Sealand Road.
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He quickly reached out and grabbed the railings to steady himself, initially thinking he had got off lightly with just a grazed knee. But then he noticed his hand was still "stuck up in the air" before quickly realising it had actually become impaled on the top of the fence. Amid the shock of all of this suddenly happening, Ian managed to grab his phone out of his pocket to dial 999, and also called for help to alert passersby.
He said by this point there was blood gushing from his hand and he felt like he was going to pass out. Ian said: "I was walking along Sealand Road and there is a railing along there with some two inch circular spikes on the top. I was walking along there and, for whatever reason, my legs gave way.
He added: "I leaned out and grabbed the railings to stop myself from falling. I thought, ‘where's my hand’ and I was going to move it and then realised it was impaled. It was just gushing with blood.
"I was in a lot of pain and shouting for help. I was trying to get my phone from my pocket. I was losing a lot of blood and could feel myself losing consciousness.”
Ian somehow got hold of his phone and called an ambulance, telling the responder that he felt like he was “going to go to sleep”. It was at this point that kind passersby stepped in and helped Ian.
A woman stopped her car and came to his aid, while a man and woman on bicycles also stopped to see if they could help. Between them they gave him water and did some first aid while they awaited the arrival of paramedics.
He said: “A lady came past on a bike and said 'are you okay' and I said no. That's about all I can remember.
"I remember being on the floor and then my hand was bandaged up. Another lady went to get me some water and first aid equipment.
"Another person even offered to get me a taxi to A&E when we were initially told the ambulance might take up to an hour and a half to arrive. It arrived in about 20 minutes as it happened.”
Due to him drifting in and out of consciousness, Ian has struggled since to remember the names and details of the people who helped him in his hour of need. He thinks that one of the women who helped him was from a local drama school.
When Ian arrived at the Countess, the doctors there delivered a grave verdict. He said: "We got to the hospital and I hadn't realised at this point how serious the injury was. One of the doctors there told me it was the worst such injury he'd ever seen.
"It was a horrible horrible experience to say the least. I was very shocked. You don't think these things are going to happen to you. I'm glad it was me it happened to, though, rather than a child or pensioner passing by there.
Ian now wants to contact the kind strangers who helped him during the shocking incident. He said: "Had they not stopped and helped me then it could have been a lot worse. I didn't even think to say thank you at the time and I didn't think to ask their names. If I could somehow let them know how much I appreciate all they did that would be great."
Ian was able to return home to Birkenhead after spending 10 hours in A&E but he will return to the Countess of Chester Hospital for surgery later this week. Medics will carry out exploratory surgery to see just what damage has been done to his hand and to see what can be done to repair it.
Amid the shock and pain of the terrifying incident, Ian said when he felt a bit better he was able to use his skills as a stand up comedian to have staff in stitches with his jokes. Issuing a praise to the paramedics and hospital staff too, he said: "The paramedics were absolutely fantastic. They are working in difficult conditions in the NHS as we all know."
And the Harry Potter fan's great sense of humour was evident when he told CheshireLive he was actually quite pleased his scar was looking like it was going to be the shape of a lightning-bolt, just like the scar Harry Potter has on his forehead.
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