This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/7402269.stm
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
Tangled bellringer hurts shoulder | Tangled bellringer hurts shoulder |
(20 minutes later) | |
A church bellringer in Oxfordshire suffered a broken collar bone when he became tangled in the bell rope. | A church bellringer in Oxfordshire suffered a broken collar bone when he became tangled in the bell rope. |
The man was lifted up by the rope which caught on his clothing before he fell to the floor at St Mary's Church in Charlbury on Wednesday. | |
But because he was in a cramped tower high in the building firefighters had to use a pulley system and lower him on a stretcher through a trap door. | |
He was treated by paramedics before being taken to hospital. | |
Church warden and master ringer Mike Summers saw the accident. | |
'Off the ground' | |
He said: "We were having a normal practice and I was standing by him at the time. | |
"He was quite competent, it wasn't his fault, the rope just caught him and tripped him up lifting him off the ground and he fell heavily. | |
"You have to be vigilant when bellringing because accidents can happen." | |
Firefighters and paramedics were called as the man could not be moved for fear of further injuries. | |
Incident commander Bob Swanton said: "I went up to have a look and spoke to the paramedics but we could see the difficulties in getting the man down. | |
"We couldn't go upwards to use our aerial platform, there was no side windows so the only way was through the trap door. | |
"He was secured in a special stretcher which is first lowered vertically and then horizontally using a pulley system. | |
"It was very lucky he fitted through, as we lowered him there was only an 18 inch gap to squeeze past. | |
"The crews worked in cramped conditions which made access to the trap door difficult but finally they were able to lower the man to the church floor." | "The crews worked in cramped conditions which made access to the trap door difficult but finally they were able to lower the man to the church floor." |