IMPALED ON TREE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22351, 24 February 1936, Page 8

IMPALED ON TREE

BOY'S FALL AT PLAY SAPLING PIERCES NECK DIFFICULT RESCUE WORK CONDITION VERY SERIOUS Falling over 12ft. from a wattle tree yesterday morning, Patrick Hugh Keaney, aged 8 years, son of Mr. and Mrs. James Keaney, of 48a Sunglen Road, Mount Eden, was impaled on a sapling, which pierced his neck. The lad was playing with other children on a vacant property at the back of his home, and had climbed the wattle tree when it broke. The other children were horrified to see their companion fall 011 to a wattle sapling, lin. thick and about 4ft. in height. It had been broken off some time ago at the top, which was jagged and sharp. Neighbours summoned by the children found the boy in a kneeling position, with the top of the small tree, which had entered the left side of his neck, protruding for about 6in. from the other side. The boy, who was semiconscious, was grasping the top of the sapling with one hand. He was in gorse and scrub in a miniature gully. Sapling Sawn Oft When the boy's plight was realised a saw was secured from a near by house. Mr. H. W. Griffin, a neighbour, then cut through the sapling near the ground, as far as possible from the point of entry, and, with 3ft. of the tree projecting from the left side of his neck, the lad was eased into a sitting position. Great care had to be taken in carrying the boy out of the property, which is in a rough state where the accident occurred, the nature of the lad's disability making the operation extremely difficult. He had to be taken over a stretch of rough ground, and carried across a 4ft. stone wall into the garden at the back of his home. The sun was shining strongly, and the injured boy was placed in the shade of the front verandah, where he was nursed in the arms of Mr. Griffin until the arrival of a neighbour's motor-car. Fast Trip to Hospital The boy was carefully carried in the vehicle, whicji was driven by Mr. H. Sampson, and sat between Mr. Griffin and another neighbour Mr. T. Marchant. There was very little external bleeding, and, with the lad eased as much as possible in the circumstances, a quick drive was made to the Auckland Hospital. The boy remained conscious throughout. He was admitted at 11.25, and in preparation for an operation the length of sapling protruding from the left side of his neck was sawn off. This had not been done previously to prevent unnecessary aggravation of the wound. A medical examination revealed that the sapling had penetrated the boy's windpipe. After the wood had been withdrawn, an operation was performed. It was found that little injury had been caused to the large blood vessels, and the wound in the windpipe was stitched up, a metal tube being inserted lower down to facilitate breathing 'through the neck. A medical authority stated yesterday that tJii» precaution is taken partly in view or the possibility of swelling occurring in the wounded part, with a consequent impediment to breathing. The boy's condition was reported to be very serious at a late hour last night.