Boy, 12, gets trampoline spring stuck in his back in freak accident

Updated

A 12-year-old boy got a six-inch metal spring lodged in his back after a trampoline he was jumping on malfunctioned.

Jamie Quinlan was bouncing on the trampoline in his friend’s back garden in Lincolnshire on Sunday when a spring shot out “like a bullet” and ripped through his T-shirt.

Jamie Quinlan had the metal spring removed in hospital (Picture: SWNS)
Jamie Quinlan had the metal spring removed in hospital (Picture: SWNS)

He immediately collapsed in agony and was rushed by ambulance to Sheffield Children’s Hospital, where surgeons removed the object that created a 6cm-deep hole in his skin.

Jamie’s dad Ian, 62, described the freak accident as scary and said his son was lucky to be alive.

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He said: “The spring had come off the trampoline like a bullet.

‘If it had hit elsewhere on Jamie’s body, in his head or throat, we could have lost him.

A six-inch spring was lodged in Jamie's back (Picture: SWNS)
A six-inch spring was lodged in Jamie's back (Picture: SWNS)

“Children are the most important things in our lives, so people need to be aware of the dangers in their own back garden.”

Jamie, who attends Louth Academy, said he knew something was wrong when he felt a “strange and heavy” sensation in his back.

He added: “It took them about 10 minutes to actually get the spring out of my back.

The metal spring catapulted into his back (Picture: SWNS)
The metal spring catapulted into his back (Picture: SWNS)

“The doctors said they had never heard of something like this happening with a trampoline.

“Sometimes it still feels like the spring is in my back, but I am getting a lot better and stronger now.

“I feel relieved that it wasn’t worse.”

Jamie still feels the spring in his back even though it has been removed (Picture: SWNS)
Jamie still feels the spring in his back even though it has been removed (Picture: SWNS)

After the surgery, Jamie was kept in overnight at the hospital before being discharged on Monday.

Ian and his wife Sandra, 55, who have two other sons, are speaking out about the dangers of garden toys following the freak accident last weekend.

The dad said he wanted people to be aware of how “lethal” trampolines could be if there was no cover on the springs, or if there was a gap.

Ian Quinlan is a full-time carer for his wife, who has Parkinson’s disease.

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