BOY, 8, INJURED IN FREAK MOTOCROSS ACCIDENT SENDS BIG THANKS TO HELPERS
BRAVE ETHAN IN GREAT SPIRITS DESPITE HORRIFIC CRASH
AN eight-year-old boy who was airlifted to hospital after a freak motocross accident has delivered a special message of thanks to everyone who helped him - and has promised he’s still going to “Go big or go home!”
Ethan Downs was on a motocross bike with his dad Steve in East Halton when he broke his leg in the horrific accident.
One of the handlebars caught the sea wall and was catapulted into his femur - but despite breaking the major bone, he’s still in great spirits. In the charming video message to Grimsby Telegraph readers, he says: “I’m Ethan and I’ve just broken the biggest bone in my body. Thank you everyone who said get well soon. Also thank you to the paramedics, fire brigade and search and rescue. “Also, go big or go home!” Ethan underwent an operation to fix the bone on Tuesday, although his dad says the energetic eightyear-old barely seems to have noticed.
“He’s acting like he stubbed his toe and nothing at all has happened!” Steve said.
“Ethan’s already up and about. He’s the bravest boy in the world, he was just excited to go in the chopper. He even asked me to take a picture of him in it giving a thumbs up!
“He’s a very keen, confident rider and has been riding for about four years. We always supervise him closely and make sure he’s protected with riding gear as much as possible. I’m sure he will be back on his bike soon.”
Ethan will begin physiotherapy soon and will hopefully be out of hospital in the next few days. Emergency services rushed to the scene on the Humber river bank near to East Halton on Saturday night.
Humberside Fire and Rescue service were called along with East Midlands Ambulance Service and Cleethorpes Coastguard Team. He was flown to Hull Royal Infirmary.
However, it could have been very different without an app that let Steve send his exact location to emergency services. The WhatThreeWords app maps the world into 3m x 3m squares with unique names so that it’s easy to pin down a precise area.
Steve has urged other parents to consider downloading it.
“I can’t endorse that app enough. Fortunately I’d downloaded it weeks previously when I’d heard about it on the radio and thought it was a clever idea,” he said.
“When you’re on an unnamed road miles away from any point of contact with civilisation and panic sets in, minutes mean everything! It only takes two minutes to download.”
See Ethan’s full video message at www.grimsbylive.co.uk