Boy, 12, falls down manhole ‘left open by Thames Water’ on family’s driveway

A young boy was caught on video falling down a manhole cover after Thames Water workers left it open, his mum has claimed.

Corey Walker, 12, was about to get into the car for the morning school run when he dropped down into the open manhole on the driveway.

He screamed after falling in to about waist depth, smacking his legs on the bricks and leaving him with cuts and bruises.

He was then taken to hospital to get his injuries cleaned and checked over fears the wounds had been exposed to sewage.

Mum Bethan Walker reported the drain to Thames Water the evening before, as she had spotted sewage coming out of it.

Workers arrived at her home before 7am to address the problem, but she believes they did not properly close the manhole before leaving.

Bethan, from Minster Lovell, Oxfordshire, said: ‘It just breaks my heart when I watch it, his poor little scream.

‘It’s awful. It’s just something that could have been so easily avoided if they’d have just done their job properly.

‘We’ve walked out the door to take the kids to school, we didn’t even notice that it was uncovered or anything.

‘I’m putting the dog in [the car] one side, chattering away to him. The next minute he [Corey] just screams.

‘At first I thought he was winding me up because he said I’ve fell down a hole!

‘And then he gets up and starts limping and I was like, you’ll be fine. I get the dog in the car and he’s still screaming at this point.

‘Then I go round and have a look, he shows me his leg and then I look at the hole and I’m like “oh my god”.

‘Obviously that should never have ever been left like that. It’s got to be a good six, seven feet deep.

‘You know normally they’d put a barrier around it to show there was a hole. I get it, it was six o’clock in the morning.

‘They genuinely probably did forget which I get, these things happen, mistakes happen.

‘But the fact that somebody didn’t do their job properly has resulted in a poor innocent child falling down and hurting himself.’

Bethan said she called Thames Water right after the incident happened and they sent someone to fix the hole at 4:15pm the same day.

She said that one of Corey’s legs became swollen and because he had fallen into sewage with an open graze, she decided to take him to Witney Minor Injuries Unit to get checked over.

Bethan said: ‘I feel a bit let down to be honest. I’m really annoyed.

‘He said he thought to put his arms out so his armpits are what’s kept him above and stopped his head from going under.

‘I’ve got a toddler, she’s three years old and she was strolling out there as well. Imagine if it was her, that would have been such a different story.

‘Luckily he’s 12 so he put his arms out but my little toddler, she would never have thought of that.’

Bethan said she emailed the company and spoke with them via their WhatsApp chat to complain but that she has not heard from them yet.

A Thames Water spokesperson said: ‘Health and safety is our top priority and we take matters of this kind very seriously.

‘We can confirm that our contractors attended Ms Walker’s property on December 17 to clear a blocked sewerage pipe. We were very concerned to learn about the incident involving Ms Walker’s son.

‘Our contractors returned to ensure the cover was secure and we will conduct a thorough investigation to determine the cause of the incident.

‘We are in close contact with Ms Walker to provide any support her family needs during this time.’

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