The mother of a teenage boy who fell 20 feet while trying to climb a Fife quarry at the weekend says he’s lucky to be alive.
Harry Hewitt (14) damaged his spine in the fall, which happened at Prestonhill Quarry, near Inverkeithing, on Saturday evening.
The Dalgety Bay youngster was with a group of friends when he slipped as he tried to scale the steep quarry face.
He had to be stretchered out and was taken to Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline, where he has spent the last two days.
In spite of his injuries the Inverkeithing High School pupil was back on his feet yesterday, his mum Lynn told The Courier.
“He’s fine, although he has two squashed vertebrae,” she said.
“My husband’s just phoned to say he’s on his feet.
“He’s had a death-defying fall. He’s a very lucky boy and I think he knows that.”
Mrs Hewitt revealed she had warned her son about the dangers of playing near the quarry, which is close to the Fife Coastal Path.
“I hope it sinks in now,” she added.
“You tell them not to do these things, but boys will be boys. The quarry is a magnet for youngsters.
“He was with a group of his friends. One of the boys climbed up and said, ‘Look what I’ve just done’. Harry and another boy followed.Peer pressure”It was peer pressure. He said as he was climbing he was thinking, ‘I shouldn’t be doing this. My mum will kill me’.”
Harry very nearly did that for himself.
Although he landed on a rock he somehow managed to cushion the blow by turning as he fell, and ended up lying on a muddy slope.
“I reckon he fell about 20 feet, but one of the paramedics thinks it might have been more than that,” Mrs Hewitt added.
“He had the presence of mind to turn as he fell. He hit a rock, but fell on his lower back and not his head.
“His friends were really switched on and made sure he didn’t move until the emergency services got there.”
A special stretcher had to be brought in before Harry could be removed safely by firefighters and paramedics.
Mrs Hewitt suffered the agony of watching from a distance as the emergency services battled to rescue her son.
“Once they had called the emergency services his friends phoned me,” she added.
“We were able to go along, but we couldn’t go up on the rubble because it was too dangerous.
“We were able to speak to him on the mobile phone. He was a bit groggy.”
Doctors at the Queen Margaret checked Harry over and told Mrs Hewitt and her husband, Chris, the news they wanted to hear.
“When they eventually got the X-rays back the first thing they said was that he’s going to walk again. That was the main thing,” she said.
Harry’s accident is the latest in a series of incidents involving youngsters falling from rocks.
An 11-year-old girl from Carluke was airlifted to hospital in Edinburgh on Sunday afternoon after falling off the Chain Walk at Elie and breaking a wrist.
A 16-year-old boy was also badly hurt in a fall in Goat Quarry, near Aberdour, the weekend before last.
This past weekend’s incidents prompted Fife Police to issue another warning to youngsters to stay away from quarries.
Superintendent John Pow of Fife police said, “This is the second such incident to happen in a short period of time and is a reminder to us all of how dangerous it is to play in the area of disused quarries.
“I would strongly discourage young people from such hazardous activity.”
Mrs Hewitt suffered the agony of watching from a distance as the emergency services battled to rescue her son.
“Once they had called the emergency services his friends phoned me,” she added.
“We were able to go along, but we couldn’t go up on the rubble because it was too dangerous.
“We were able to speak to him on the mobile phone. He was a bit groggy.”
Doctors at the Queen Margaret checked Harry over and told Mrs Hewitt and her husband, Chris, the news they wanted to hear.
“When they eventually got the X-rays back the first thing they said was that he’s going to walk again. That was the main thing,” she said.
Harry’s accident is the latest in a series of incidents involving youngsters falling from rocks.
An 11-year-old girl from Carluke was airlifted to hospital in Edinburgh on Sunday afternoon after falling off the Chain Walk at Elie and breaking a wrist.
A 16-year-old boy was also badly hurt in a fall in Goat Quarry, near Aberdour, the weekend before last.
This past weekend’s incidents prompted Fife Police to issue another warning to youngsters to stay away from quarries.
Superintendent John Pow of Fife police said, “This is the second such incident to happen in a short period of time and is a reminder to us all of how dangerous it is to play in the area of disused quarries.
“I would strongly discourage young people from such hazardous activity.”