Boy (14) in critical condition after freak accident in Co Cork

A 14-year-old boy in is a critical condition in hospital after sustaining serious injuries when he collapsed while out with friends in Kinsale in Co Cork yesterday evening.

It is understood the boy was with some friends at the Orchards Estate near the Compass Hill area of the town at around 7pm when he began to feel sick and went to rest on a nearby railing.

It’s understood that the boy was leaning over the railing when he suddenly became weak and collapsed and his neck and head became wedged between the rounded tops of the railing.

The boy’s friends tried to lift him free of the railing but were unable to do so and it’s understood that he suffered serious breathing difficulties while trapped for several minutes.

The boy’s friends raised the alarm and the boy’s mother and a neighbour raced to the scene and managed to free him from the railings before the emergency services arrived.

Members of Cork County Fire Brigade worked to resuscitate the boy at the scene before HSE medical staff arrived and he was rushed by ambulance to Cork University Hospital.

The boy is currently in the Intensive Care unit of Cork University Hospital where he remains in a critical condition this morning as his family maintain a vigil at his bedside.

Gardaí were also alerted and attended at the scene and they have begun an investigation but say that they are treating the incident as a tragic accident.