Boy badly injured by railway sleepers

21 August 2013

A Sheffield boy was badly hurt by a broken Railway Sleeper Fence.

Bailey cut his leg on a fence made of railway sleepers near his home in Westfield. The schoolboy who was out playing with a friend needed nineteen stitches after ripping open his thigh on a wooden fence made from railway sleepers - which his mum Kirsty says is in desperate need of repair.

Bailey, aged eight, hurt himself while taking a short cut onto a baseball court that was surrounded by a fence made from upturned railway sleepers opposite his home in Westfield.

But Bailey’s mum Kirsty said that one of the wooden railway sleepers was broken and brittle, which meant her son scraped his leg on a broken piece of wood, causing a large wound.

“It was terrible, when I saw the wound I was nearly physically sick. I could see right through to the muscle in his leg,” she said.

“I want some proper fencing put up and the basketball court to be cleared as well - there’s broken glass all over it. It’s not a good start to Bailey’s summer holiday.” She added: “I’m always telling him off for climbing, but there’s a gap between the railway sleepers for them to get onto the basketball court. “He’s lifted his leg up and slipped and fallen onto the broken railway sleeper. He actually walked back to the house with the wound.”

Sheffield Council has now promised to block off the railway sleepers with boards before they can make permanent repairs. 

Bailey was taken to Sheffield Children’s Hospital, where he spent about five hours being treated. Paul Billington, Sheffield Council’s director of culture and environment, said: “As soon as we were made aware of Bailey’s injury a council officer inspected the site. “We are making arrangements to block off the railway sleepers with boards as a temporary measure while we find a permanent solution. “We wish Bailey all the best for a full & speedy recovery.”