Sam Shepherd, one of the youngsters who has suffered injuries on the play equipment at the Recreation road, Sprowston playground over the last few months.; Photo by Simon Finlay

Parents’ safety fears over Sprowston playground

Annabelle Dickson Tuesday, June 21, 2011
9:11 AM

A spate of injuries at a newly-refurbished playground has led to safety concerns from parents.

Four people have told the Evening News about injuries which also include a head wound and a broken arm, but it is thought that more than seven children have broken bones at the Sprowston playground in the last seven weeks.

Sprowston Parish Council clerk June Hunt said she was only aware of one incident since the refurbishment and no full details of any of the incidents had been reported to the park supervisor or the council.

“Our equipment was checked and installed by a reputable manufacturer”, she said. “If an accident is reported then straight away we would be able to take remedial action.”

She said that they also went around each weekend to check for damage to the playgrounds and carry out any work.

“We have to go around all the time and do safety procedures.”

A £96,931 upgrade to the playground was completed around 10 weeks ago and has attracted many children to the site at the Recreation Ground.

Completely new equipment, including a train, swings, slide and nest swing were installed. The safety surface was also refurbished and extended.

Fourteen-year-old Sam Shepherd had 32 stitches on his knee after falling in the playground and nine-year-old Kiani Hackett is in a full leg cast after falling off a pole slide.

Sam was returning from a school fair on Friday evening with his brother and friends. He was running when he fell on a curb next to the main slide which he said was jutting out by at least and inch.

“I just thought it was as bit of a graze”, he said. “I was half way home and I looked down and my jeans were ripped.”

It was then that he saw the extent of the injury and his mother took him to Accident and Emergency.

“I had to have 32 stitches. It took quite a while. It got worse before it got better. I couldn’t walk on it for a while. I’ve been reduced to sitting on the sofa and I’ve had to give up my paper round.

“It was very hard and sharp.”

The Sprowston Community High School student said that he had been using the park for years and had had many falls in the park, but they had not previously led to this kind of injury.

He said he thought the kerb had been filled in since the incident.

His mother Helen said: “It honestly looked like he had a machete through his knee. There do seem to be a lot of accidents there.

“It was a lovely playground. We spent all the summer holidays down there. They probably went there nearly every day. There was a fairly high slide, but nobody fell off it.”

Diana Hackett’s nine-year-old Kiani, from Half Mile Road off Aylsham Road, was also injured at the playground and broke her leg in two places.

Her daughter had been playing with her siblings and cousins in the park the week before half term when she fell off the slide.

Mrs Hackett said her daughter was on the pole with her legs hooked over ready to slide down and she fell through the gap.

She said that she did not think they had fitted enough of the rubber flooring and she didn’t think the new equipment was suitable for the many younger children who use the park because of the nearby junior and infant schools.

The park is recommended for children up to the age of 14 and each of the pieces of equipment have small labels with an age recommendation which the council are planning to make bigger.

Sam Cook’s daughter Lauren Siers, 14, hit her head when she was sitting in the nest swing.

“I was sitting cross-legged and my friend grabbed the rope and I bashed my head,” she said.

Ms Cook said she thought the blue ring around the swing was too hard. “I did not contact the park because I was in too much of a panic,” she said.

Kerry Howlett’s daughter Abigail, seven, from Dixon Road in Sprowston, fell off a bar on the rope bridge.

“She fell back and landed on her elbow. She spent three hours in surgery and had metal pins put in. I would say it was an accident in her case, but I have got a three-year-old and he will be starting at the school. The equipment is just too much for that age range. My son is three and there is nothing here for him now.”

Has your child been hurt at the playground? Contact Evening News reporter Annabelle Dickson on 01603 772426 or email annabelle.dickson@archant.co.uk.

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14 comments

I would like to respond to the remarks of most of the above remarks.Perhaps if you bothered to read the article (rather than misquote) you may be in a better position to criticise. I dont need to defend my son as he has done so in a far more articulate fashion than most of his detractors. Firstly I witnessed the wound first hand. It took over 2 hours to sew this wound up. The skin and muscle were severed to the bone.The doctors at Norfolk and Norwich A&E (who were all excellent-thank you) were most impressed with this wound!! We are not talking a scratch here....Sam was informed yesterday that it would take 7-9 months before the wound would heal to 80% of its former strength.By the way thanks for asking!!! Secondly when the photographer informed the parish council that he would be attending they despatched a team to do some hasty repair work.For the more cynical among you this was captured on camera..The council have made no attempt to contact Sam or his mother whose only intention is to draw attention to a hazardous situation.At no time has compensation been mentioned other than to defend the fact that this is not the issue as most of you seem to think. The council also seem amazed that nobody has reported incidents to the park keeper. Could it be that those involved were a little more concerned with going to hospital. Let me state again,having witnessed it all too closely this was no ordinary injury caused by a teenage trip. I hope Sams detractors have children who are as sensible,articulate and forgiving he is and can see beyond the 14 yr old stereotype they obviously consider him to be. Sorry to rant a little but the ignorance of many of the above comments needed to be addressed. Lastly I would like to say how proud I am of Sam and his mother Helen in the way they have dealt with both his injury and the unpleasant way that some ignorant and opinionated idiots have communicated with them in the last few days. I still beleive in a thing called love.Maybe you should too-or at least get a life

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alan shepherd

Wednesday, June 22, 2011
There is no pleasing people nowadays, the play areas are too dangerous to play on or there is nothing for kids to do. Doesn't anyone remember the days when you would come home from playing out with bruises, scatches and yes the odd broken bone but nothing life threatening. The world is a poor place being wrapped in cotton wool.

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dragon fly

Tuesday, June 21, 2011
I would like to point out a few things. Firstly, it was quite late and I was looking after my younger brother and no other children were there. Secondly I find the whole "nothing worse than a 14 year old" etc a very belittling stereotype, I usually consider myself a sensible and careful person that thinks of others before myself. Thirdly, I have little or no physical ability to run as fast as someone on here has described. Finally I am only concerned about what gets done about this, I will not accept compensation, I only want safety issues tackled as do all others mentioned in this article. I understand people may believe the park is extremely safe but I can assure you it isn't completely safe.

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SamShepherd

Tuesday, June 21, 2011
To clarify, Sam wouldn't have the slightest interest in being at the park by choice, he was there supervising his younger brother who now feels very guilty at having stayed to play so long.

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Helenshepherd

Tuesday, June 21, 2011
To clarify, Sam wouldn't be in the slightest bit interested in being at the park. He was there supervising his younger brother who now feels very guilty that he stayed playing so long. It could as easily have been an adult.

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Helenshepherd

Tuesday, June 21, 2011
It's a great playground, just outside the Sprowston Infant & Junior schools. I've been there with my boys, and the only thing that spoils it is 14 year olds running around and paying no attention to the younger kids. Perhaps if 14 year old Sam had not been running around in the kids playground (must have been running very fast) and out in the 'Rec' he may not have got 37 stitches. Also less chance of him crashing into a younger kid.

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paul Dobson

Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Sorry about the double posting. I attempted to post a photo, then realised it doesn't matter. I understand where you're all coming from, in other circumstances I'd agree. ... we agree about the slow news day though!

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Helenshepherd

Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Sorry about the double posting. I attempted to post a photo, then realised it doesn't matter. I understand where you're all coming from, in other circumstances I'd agree. ... we agree about the slow news day though!

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Helenshepherd

Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Once again, I'll only speak for my own case. I took the action I thought was needed to get action. When the council heard about it they got down there lightning quick and remedied the situation which led to my son's injury. They did this yesterday as this story was being written. I choose to see this as an admission that something was wrong and the instant action I would have liked. I know better than to expect an apology so as far as my case is concerned, I'm happy. I never had any interest in compensation, just in getting the defects sorted. Other than my case, it's a lot of broken bones in a short space of time and I think it deserves attention as more than a statistical anomaly. Just maybe, something's wrong. Maybe the smaller children deserve somewhere to play to replace the original playground. I said when I got there I didn't want one of those "mum looks cross taken from a low angle" photos, but that's the way it's done, and I personally consider it has resulted in the unfinished surface which damaged my son's knee being finished. Let's not let our fear of the compensation culture mean that we never ask questions.

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Helenshepherd

Tuesday, June 21, 2011
It's a great playground, just outside the Sprowston Infant & Junior schools. I've been there with my boys, and the only thing that spoils it is 14 year olds running around and paying no attention to the younger kids. Perhaps if 14 year old Sam had not been running around in the kids playground (must have been running very fast) and out in the 'Rec' he may not have got 37 stitches. Also less chance of him crashing into a younger kid.

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paul Dobson

Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Once again, I'll only speak for my own case. I took the action I thought was needed to get action. When the council heard about it they got down there lightning quick and remedied the situation which led to my son's injury. They did this yesterday as this story was being written. I choose to see this as an admission that something was wrong and the instant action I would have liked. I know better than to expect an apology so as far as my case is concerned, I'm happy. I never had any interest in compensation, just in getting the defects sorted. Other than my case, it's a lot of broken bones in a short space of time and I think it deserves attention as more than a statistical anomaly. Just maybe, something's wrong. Maybe the smaller children deserve somewhere to play to replace the original playground. I said when I got there I didn't want one of those "mum looks cross taken from a low angle" photos, but that's the way it's done, and I personally consider it has resulted in the unfinished surface which damaged my son's knee being finished. Let's not let our fear of the compensation culture mean that we never ask questions.

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Helenshepherd

Tuesday, June 21, 2011
I couldn't agree more with you Norry. I played in this park many years ago as a kid and if I remember correctly we didn't have rubber to fall on it was concrete, we learnt very quick to hold on tightly or it's going to hurt. All I can say is it must be a very slow day in the news office if this made it to front page.

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parkeg1

Tuesday, June 21, 2011
I seem to have an understanding of where Norry is coming from. I have taken my three year old up there and would be happy enough for him to go again. His older brother is looking forward to getting up there to try out the bigger stuff. Parental supervision and experimental challenge are the order of the day. I see nothing wrong with the playground. I do wonder what some of the things are for, is there a user manual?

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George Ezekial

Tuesday, June 21, 2011
good lord it is a disgrace that parts of this planet, when fallen upon, can cause any sort of injury. I'm surprised any people survived the perilous times, when firemens poles led down to bare earth floors and not soft rubber. This play ground must be repaired immediately to avoid people having to learn to look where they are going and take care.

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Norry

Tuesday, June 21, 2011