A BOY who had his spleen removed following a freak accident on his bike will have to take medication for the rest of his life - but he says he is lucky to be alive.
Patrick Glendon, aged 12, of Test Court, River Way, Andover - where he lives with his mum and dad Ken and Diane Wedge - was riding his bike home from The Depot on with his brother and friend when the accident happened.
"I was going too fast and lost control of the bike," said Patrick, who featured on the front page of the Andover Advertiser Midweek last week in a much happier story.
"I went over the handlebars and landed on my shoulder."
Fortunately he didn't land on his head as he was not wearing a helmet.
But he was still in considerable pain because as he went over the bike his stomach struck the central shaft which protruded about half an inch.
When he got home he was as white as a sheet and his lips were blue.
He was rushed by ambulance from Andover's Minor Injuries Unit to the Royal Hampshire County Hospital, where he was operated on to have his ruptured spleen removed that night.
He also had to have a blood transfusion because of the blood loss.
"I'm lucky to be alive," he said.
"As it is he will have to take penicillin tablets for the rest of his life to replace the spleen's role in filtering foreign organisms that infect the bloodstream.
He will always wear a helmet now and he and his parents will be campaigning to make it compulsory for everyone to wear helmets on bikes.
They also want bike manufacturers to ensure there are no unnecessary protruding parts.
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