20 October 2023 , 10:32
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A dad was left with gruesome injuries in a trampoline park accident which saw his foot 'hanging by the tendons'.
Billy Harwood's tibia bone in his leg pierced his skin while on one of the jumping devices at a leisure centre for his niece's 10th birthday party. The horrifying accident happened five years ago - but his injury was so terrible he is still unable to play with his kids or work his job in construction.
Billy had only been on the trampoline for five minutes at the party and jumped off a ledge and onto one of the trampolines before landing in a pit filled with foam shapes. But the 31-year-old was sudden hit with a rocketing pain and was rushed to hospital where he spent three weeks.
Billy says he can no longer play with his daughters because of the accident (Iain Buist/Newcastle Chronicle)
His tibia bone pierced his skin in the accident (Iain Buist/Newcastle Chronicle)The former forklift truck driver from Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, spoke out about his accident in a bid to raise awareness of how dangerous trampolines can be. "I've missed out on so much of my kids' lives, and my own," he told Chronicle Live.
"I can't work anymore because of my leg. It's affecting me every single day. I have to wash it three or four times a day. The kids even help with dressing it, bless them. It's affecting my life so much. I've got three girls who are now eight, nine and 15, but obviously at the time they were a lot younger. It's impacted my eldest, who was 10 at the time, so much over the last five years. She's seen everything", he added.
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Billy said that following the accident he had to be lifted out of the foam pit and was taken to Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary. He spent three weeks in hospital and had to undergo surgeries to have metal rods implanted into his leg. He has been left with a large scar on his leg and wound which needs dressing and washing regularly, which his children and partner Kerry help with.
He spoke out ahead of his return to hospital to have the metal removed from his leg - more than five-and-a-half years after the accident in March 2018. Billy said: "I've got to get cut open from the bottom of my ankle to the back of my knee. The metal work is going to be pulled out which will mean I'm back to square one again."
Billy hopes that sharing his story will raise awareness of the potential for injury at trampoline parks and prevent anyone else from going through a similar experience. Trampoline parks require visitors to sign a waiver which highlights the possibility of injury.
He said: "I want to get my story out there because I wouldn't want it to happen to anyone else. I used to work with forklifts and stuff but now I'm not allowed to with my leg. I used to do a lot of sports which I can't do now. I can't do anything anymore. I've missed out on it all", he added.