Boy choked on his own vomit after breaking skull on rope swing 

A 17-year-old boy is in intensive care in a London hospital after falling from a rope swing and fracturing his skull.

Rhys Huntley-Rowe was with friends in Walmer, near Deal, Kent, swinging on a rope in Coldblow Woods when the branch snapped.

The teen fell, hitting his head on the roots below before the branch came and hit him again.

Rhys was knocked unconscious and began choking on his own vomit while seizing.

His mum, Ashley Corn, 40, said: ‘He’s had a double impact on his head, which has fractured his skull. They also suspected a neck, spine and pelvis injury as well, but thankfully those were clear. He’s got a subdural hematoma as well as bruising on the brain.’

Rhys, from Margate, was airlifted to King’s College Hospital and put into a coma, but after just 24 hours, he was back breathing on his own and responding.

At the scene, his friends called emergency services and helped until they arrived – saving his life.

The incident was so traumatising for the group that the police have put support in place for them.

Rhys’ mum added: ‘Had they not acted the way that they did, he wouldn’t have made it till the ambulance arrived. Bearing in mind, these kids are between 16 and 18. They were panicked, but they were calm as well.’

Mrs Corn was already in London on a day trip when she got the call to say Rhys had been injured and was being airlifted to King’s.

Her husband left work to go to Walmer and fly with Rhys to the hospital.

Mrs Corn added: ‘Sitting in the relatives’ room was the longest. It felt like a lifetime. Just sitting there, not knowing what condition my child was in. It was horrible and felt like an eternity.’

Since being in hospital, the motor mechanics student at Broadstairs College has been ‘smashing all the targets the doctors set’.

His future, however, still hangs in the balance. He’s developed a blood clot and is on blood thinners at the moment.

His mum added: ‘He’s not very cooperative because he’s very disoriented. He is very confused. So they’re trying to get him to start taking fluids.

‘He’s still being fed through a nasal tube at the moment and on a lot of medication. We’re not sure if there’s going to be any brain damage right now because he’s still not quite coherent.’

It’s not known how long Rhys will have to stay in London, and currently his family have been staying in expensive hotels and Airbnbs.

A GoFundMe has been set up by her cousin, Michelle Huntley, to help pay for accommodation and travel costs from Margate to King’s.

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