Horror fall of youngster on family cycle ride

Nov 29 2009 by Rob Pattinson, Sunday Sun

LYING strapped inside an Air Ambulance the bloodied face of Luca Ross is a heartbreaking sight.

The six-year-old had been cycling to school when he was thrown from his bike, landing on the only spot not protected by his helmet, or clothes - his face.

The accident ripped through his fragile young skin, leaving grit embedded underneath, and ripping open his nose.

The Great North Air Ambulance was called to treat the youngster at the scene in case he had suffered major head trauma.

As the helicopter lifted Luca away dad Paul sat by his side, still stunned by the accident.

Now fit and well and back on his feet - and in the saddle - Luca and his grateful friends and family know how important the Great North Air Ambulance was to his speedy recovery.

Today the family from Windermere, Cumbria, have agreed to relive the ordeal and tell the North: “Our region needs its own Air Ambulance.”

Dad Paul, 42, said: “Me and the boys were on our bikes, cycling to school like we do quite often. Luca had a back-pack to take and his PE kit, so he hung his PE kit on the handle-bars of his bike.

“It obviously got caught in the wheels and threw him straight off the bike. We were on a tarmac farm track and he landed straight on his face. He was wearing a helmet.

“I was slightly ahead when I heard his brother screaming Luca had come off his bike and was bleeding. I was shocked by the amount of blood, it was just everywhere, all over his face.

“There was so much blood it was difficult to see what was going on. So we did our best to clean it up and called an ambulance.”

After hearing the details of the accident and injury emergency call operators scrambled the Great North Air Ambulance.

“You could see one of his nostrils had been ripped right open and was all curled up,” Paul said.