FATAL CUT ON LEG

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21807, 23 May 1934, Page 12

FATAL CUT ON LEG

ACCIDENT AT SCHOOL BOY DEVELOPS LOCKJAW [by telegraph—OWN correspondent] NEW PLYMOUTH, Tuesday A cut on tbe leg while playing resulted in the death from tetanus poisoning of Irwin Dick, aged nine years, the son of Mr. and Mrs. T. Dick, of New Plymouth. The lad received the cut while he was playing on a section at the central school. Some soil from an excavation for the new Masonic temple bad been spread oil the grass at the school, mainly for top-dressing. The boy fell on to a piece of glass hidden beneath the soil. As his leg was cut raiher severely, he was attended to and taken to his liome, opposite the school. The cut healed fairly quickly and before the end of the week the boy was back at school. The headmaster, Mr. D. P. Evans, questioned the lad about his leg, and lie replied that it had healed. Poisoning was noticed later and, when medical advice was called, the boy was rushed to the hospital. Lockjaw set in and, in spite of every care, he died. The fact that the soil used in the top-dressing came from ground formerly used as stables is one reason advanced for the boy being infected. The central school committee held a special meeting this afternoon to decide what steps should be taken. The committee is determined, if necessary, to remove all the soil.