King's Lynn schoolboy, 12, walked a mile home on broken leg after football match

A Lynn parent has spoken of his concern after his son walked almost a mile home with a broken leg following a school football match.

Gary Reddington’s 12-year-old son Toby, a pupil at King Edward VII (KES) Academy, said his son made his own way home to North Lynn after sustaining the injury in a game against Downham Market Academy on Tuesday, October 2.

Mr Reddington said: “The strange thing is he came home without us being notified.”

He added: “We didn’t know he had broken his leg, and by the time he got home it had massively swollen.”

Mr Reddington said if he had been made aware, he would have picked his son up and either brought him home or taken him to the hospital.

“He could hardly walk, I’m absolutely astounded I didn’t get a phone call,” he added.

“This was an arranged match, it’s absolutely crazy.”

Mr Reddington said the PE department have since apologised to the family, and he understood that they had not realised that Toby’s leg was broken at the time, but he still believes they should have been alerted.

Toby, who was taken to Lynn’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital the morning after the football match, now has his leg in plaster, and has not been able to attend school since the injury.

A spokeswoman for KES Academy has said they will be reviewing their procedures in light of the situation.

She said: “We were very sorry to hear of the extent of Toby’s injury. First Aid staff assessed Toby after he had sustained the problem during the game.

“Toby said he was fine and wanted to carry on playing but staff felt it best if he came off the pitch.”

She said after the game, Toby was asked how he was.

“He said he was OK and he appeared to be well enough to go home,” she added.

“As he was absent from school, staff contacted home on two occasions to check on Toby’s welfare.

“We understand on the third visit to hospital, a week after the game, Toby was diagnosed with a hairline fracture of the bone and we were sorry to hear of that.

“We will review our procedures in light of what happened. We wish Toby a speedy recovery.”