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Mum’s anger at school fence horror
THE mother of a pupil who had the tops of two fingers sliced off while climbing a fence is threatening to take legal action against the company which built Haverstock School, where the accident happened.
Martin Archer, 12, faces an agonising wait to see if an operation to stitch the two fingers back onto his left hand has been successful.
His mother Nora has called on Kajima, the private contractor which rebuilt the Chalk Farm school, to pull down perimeter fencing.
Ms Archer, from Primrose Hill, claims the accident would never have happened if the school had been better designed, and is consulting lawyers to force the company to pull down the 12-foot high fencing.
The accident happened when Martin, who had gone to the shops with his elder brother John during the lunch break, was returning to school.
He was late back and, to avoid being caught by teachers, decided to climb a fence at the back of the school.
Ms Archer said: “It is quite high and he had climbed to the top of it. There are spikes right along the top and his trousers got caught as he climbed over.
“His hand then slipped and as he fell he took the whole weight on his hand, and sliced the tops of two fingers clean off.”
Bleeding heavily, Martin staggered into school and found a teacher, who at first suggested he run the hand under cold water, before it became clear how serious the accident was.
Martin said: “I didn’t really feel much at first because it had sliced through the nerve endings, but I was in shock.”
He underwent a five-hour operation to save the fingers at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead.
Ms Archer added: “The school was asked to look in the area for the rest of his fingers. They found them and they were taken up to the hospital after him.”
Because Martin had recently eaten lunch, he had to endure the operation without a general anaesthetic.
He said: “I had to have six injections in my hand. They put a blanket over my arm so I couldn’t see what was happening and a nurse spoke to me throughout, but it was pretty nasty.”
Ms Archer said: “He should not have been climbing over the fence, but apparently it happens every day.
“The point is schoolchildren climb on things, even if they are not supposed to. The school needs to be a safe environment and the fence looks like something you would see around a prison. “
A council press official said: “It was an unpleasant incident for all those involved, including the teachers and other pupils as well as the boy himself. We wish him a speedy recovery.
“The fence is a standard design and we feel it’s fit for its purpose, which is to prevent people entering or leaving.” |
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