A staff member was seen in tears after a boy was seriously injured in a "freak weather phenomena."
The nine-year-old was airlifted to hospital after the inflatable 'zorb' ball he was in was carried into the air by a gust of wind at Southport Food and Drink Festival on Sunday. Merseyside Police today confirmed the boy remains in a serious but stable condition in hospital after suffering multiple injuries.
Paul Holmes, from Southport, was among the festivalgoers who rushed to help the boy after watching the incident unfold shortly before 2pm. The 43-year-old said one of the staff members from the inflatable business was in tears following the incident.
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He said: "People seem to be forgetting the owner of the inflatable business - they must be going through absolute hell with this."
Paul, who had visited the festival with family, ripped the ball open to free the boy before running into a marquee to ask for help. He told the ECHO: "We were just stood next to the zorb pit looking for something to eat. There was a breeze quite quick and I just said 'oh that breeze is nice'.
"In my peripheral vision I saw two of the zorb balls go up into the sky and I just screamed at the top of my voice 'there's a kid in one of those balls someone catch him.' The minute I shouted 'there's a boy in the sky' the staff at the inflatable place were quick to get all of the kids out of the remaining balls in the pit.
"I don't know if the parents jumped in or just the staff but they were quick taking them out of the remaining balls. One of the zorb balls didn't go that high and landed.
"The main zorb of concern I would say was probably 15-20ft in the sky easily. The wind just whipped it up into the sky. It was like a bit of a freak weather phenomena."
Paul said he was running around trying to work out where the ball was going to land in a bid to catch it, but he missed it due to a gust of wind. He said: "Me and another gentleman were just in a mad panic trying to rip open the zorb to try and get to the little boy.
"Everyone wants to help naturally, I just screamed to everyone 'do not move this boy.'
Paul ran into the marquee and onto the stage where a singer was performing. He said: "I stopped them straight away and said someone shout for help we need urgent medical attention, there's been a major incident around the back."
North West Ambulance Service said an ambulance, senior clinician and an air ambulance were called to the scene at 1.56pm. The nine-year-old boy was airlifted to hospital with multiple serious injuries.
Paul said: "My thoughts go out to the parents of the little boy."
In an email to the ECHO Jeff Wilkinson, Managing Director of Bouncy Castle Parade said: "Understandably, we are currently assisting with multi-agency investigations over this terrible freak incident. Therefore, we are unable to comment further at this moment in time. We are all shocked over what happened. Our thoughts and prayers are with the small boy’s family and wish him a rapid recovery."
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