Courage of schoolboy who joked in wreckage of rollercoaster
A BoY injured in a rollercoaster accident has been praised by his rescuers for his ‘unbelievable’ and selfless bravery.
Liam Boyle, 11, was one of the ten people injured when the Tsunami ride at M&D’s theme park derailed last Sunday.
A packed five-car train shot off the tracks and fell 30ft to the ground. Liam and his friend James were left trapped between the mangled carriages.
Former army medic Robert McCutcheon, who was one of the first to help Liam following the crash, said he was amazed by the courage the youngster showed.
Bystander Iain Holms, a social worker and former nurse who had been at M&D’s, near Motherwell, Lanarkshire, with his family, soon joined Mr McCutcheon to provide assistance.
The experienced pair were able to treat Liam’s injuries and put him at ease. But both say it was Liam himself who showed real bravery, caring more about his friend than himself.
Mr McCutcheon said: ‘I was absolutely amazed at how Liam reacted – he was so calm and he even managed to crack a few jokes.
‘I have seen grown men in a battlefield who haven’t been that composed. For an 11-year-old, he was absolutely incredible. Because he was so calm and co-operative it made things a lot easier.
‘You get people in these situations who understandably try to get away. They try to move, they are screaming – but he didn’t.’
When the accident happened, Mr McCutcheon, from Glasgow, said a ‘trauma switch’ from his army days kicked in and he immediately swung into action.
The 31-year-old added: ‘I had a quick check in the other carriages as soon as the train came off, and the worst-affected person on my side that I could see was Liam so I just went to him. The first thing going through my head was that I couldn’t see his hand, I thought it was gone but it was still attached.
‘I was thinking of blood loss at that point; we tried to control that as much possible.’
Mr Holms, 45, from Cumbernauld, Lanarkshire, said: ‘Liam was fearful, his eyes were wide, he was ashen faced. I think by that time he saw his hand. There were a lot of screams around us, people were shocked around the whole area.
‘I went in to help Robert, and Liam was amazing. He’s the brav-
‘He was absolutely incredible’
est boy I’ve met in my whole life, without a doubt.
Mr Holms added: ‘He was asking us how we were, he thanked us throughout the whole thing.
‘He kept saying “Thanks for helping me”, even though he had gone through so much and he was really worried about his friend too, how he was. He was even joking about football he said he loved Celtic, and I said I did too. ‘Robert said he loved Rangers and he was laughing that there were these two guys from different teams looking after him.’
Since Sunday, Liam has undergone two operations after his hand was almost completely severed and his leg was badly broken.
Despite his injuries, he has still managed to thank the men who helped him and even asked to video chat with one of them from his hospital bed.
Mr Holms said: ‘He asked to FaceTime me in his hospital bed. I was all embarrassed and told him I didn’t have FaceTime, but he just said thanks very much for looking after him.
‘He’s the bravest wee lad I’ve ever met. I just can’t believe his courage.’
A spokesman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde yesterday confirmed that Liam was still in ‘a serious condition’.
M&D’s closed after the crash, although park owners reopened the indoor complex on Thursday.