A nine-year-old boy has been seriously injured after the inflatable zorb ball he was playing in was carried so high into the air by “a freak gust of wind” that eyewitnesses described it gliding over some trees.
The child was inside the transparent plastic orb, floating on a pool of water at an outdoor festival in Southport, Merseyside, when the ball suddenly took off. It landed nearby shortly afterward.
The boy sustained significant injuries and was taken to hospital from Victoria Park by air ambulance.
“It was quite breezy, then all of a sudden there was a gust of wind. It [the inflatable ball] went over the trees and we thought it was a balloon at first, before we realized it was one of the inflatables with a child inside,” a witness told the Liverpool Echo.
“There was a gust of wind, the inflatable zorb took off from the water pool with the boy inside. The zorb then landed on a wheelie bin, the zorb popped on impact, leaving the boy on the ground,” another witness said. “Onlookers rushed over to help, the PA put an announcement out for security and St Johns [Ambulance] to attend. They were on the scene within a minute or so. They were brilliant.”
On an otherwise still day, a “freak gust of wind” might have been responsible for the zorb taking off, the Echo reported.
Joanne Murray, who was at the festival with her husband, said: “I can’t believe I’ve just witnessed that, I witnessed it with my own eyes, there was a kid in that ball.”
Police are appealing for witnesses who captured images or video of the incident, which took place at about 2pm.
“A second zorb ball containing another child was also raised at the same time, but thankfully this child was unharmed,” Merseyside police said in a statement.
“Following the incident a full health and safety inspection has been undertaken at the Southport Food and Drink festival and the event remains open to the public. Our thoughts are with those involved in the accident and we wish them a full recovery,” a spokesperson for Sefton council said.
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