Badly injured teen tells of horror
18:00, 19 May 2009
updated: 18:00, 19 May 2009
by Emma Grove
The youngster who suffered the most serious injuries in the Minster College heating duct collapse has spoken about how his friends tried to rescue him.
Rhys Sullivan has also told how there was someone else sitting at his desk when he got to the sports hall, and he argued over his seat.
When the ventilation unit fell from the ceiling of the sports hall during an exam at the college on Tuesday last week, Rhys was struck on his shoulder by part of the duct.
The impact forced Rhys forward and he struck his face on the desk, leaving him with a broken jaw and a hairline fracture to his chin.
Rhys had to have 30 stitches in his arm for cuts and bruises caused by the metal from the duct, stitches in his lip for a deep cut, and he has six chipped teeth.
The 14-year-old also described how he has lost the use muscles around his right eye, and the right side of his face is numb, but he said staff at East Grinstead Hospital, where he has been treated, hope feeling will return in time.
Rhys was in hospital for two days, and he had a three-hour operation to fix his jaw, which now has two metal plates in.
His teeth cannot be seen to by a dentist until his jaw has healed – which will take about three months – and he will have to eat soft foods and liquid for that time.
The plaster on the left side of Rhys’s face is where the surgeons cut to operate on his jaw.
Rhys said the doctors told him the duct had missed his spine by two inches and if it had hit it, he could have died or been paralysed.
See this week's Times Guardian for more on Rhys and a special report about the incident.
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