The Only Way Is Essex star Jess Wright has issued an urgent warning after a bouncy castle accident left her four-year-old son unable to breathe and “traumatised”.
Wright was with her son, Presley, at another child’s birthday party when the freak accident took place two weeks ago.
Appearing on Tuesday’s episode of This Morning, the 40-year-old explained that her son was playing on a bouncy castle indoors when he “somehow got pinged off” and flew into the air, landing some three metres away on a hard floor.
Wright and her husband, William Lee-Kemp, frantically called an ambulance when they realised Presley wasn’t breathing and had “started to go blue”.
“It was about 10 to 15 seconds but it felt like forever,” the Towie star said. “It was awful and traumatising. We got him outside and at that point I screamed, ‘Call an ambulance’, because I was fearing the worst.”
Wright’s fears were compounded by the fact that Presley has a rare heart condition called bicuspid aortic valve, which means his valve has two flaps of skin instead of three.
Thankfully, Presley started breathing again when medical help arrived and became more alert once the family was at the hospital.
Wright said the accident was “a complete one-off”, adding that she was appearing on This Morning “just to make sure everyone knows, just be vigilant and aware that it can get quite serious”.
“It’s one of those things and I hope it never happens to anyone else, but it can happen,” she said.
Sharing an update on how Presley is doing now, the reality TV star said: “He’s good. He’s slightly traumatised by it but he’s fine.”
Speaking alongside Wright, inflatables safety expert Craig Whitelock-Wainwright said parents should research the company they’re hiring from and ensure any inflatables they’re hiring have passed a safety inspection.
Crash mats should be positioned next to the open sides of bouncy castles and children using them should be “properly supervised” by an adult who knows what dangers to look out for, he added.
Wright previously said the accident caused a chilling silence across the party, adding that the sound of Presley’s fall would "haunt me, I’m sure”.
Describing it as the "scariest day of my life," Wright also posted images of Presley recovering in her arms and on a hospital stretcher.
