7:12am Thursday 10th April 2008
By Sharon Harris
A BARRY teenager who fell 35 feet onto concrete - after a daredevil drunken prank went wrong - has told of his miraculous survival.
Seventeen-year-old Michael Taylor fell off a wall onto the promenade near the eastern shelter at Barry Island.
A Rapid Response Vehicle arrived within eight minutes, and the severely injured youngster was taken to the University Hospital of Wales, in Cardiff, where a trauma team took over.
Now, after five days on the High Dependency Unit, Michael realises how lucky he is to be alive, following the fall just before 7pm last Thursday (April 3).
Michael, 17, of Hilda Street, said: "My friends and I went down the Island after having a few drinks.
"We went up to the eastern shelter, climbed up the bank, through the fence and had some more drinks up there.
"We started messing about and having a laugh, and I remember one of my mates going down onto the shelter.
"I remember holding onto the shelter and balancing so my head was facing down."
Michael then tried the same trick on a nearby wall - but this time lost his grip.
"My arms gave way and I don't remember much except falling, trying to grab onto something on the way down, then waking up in hospital," he said.
Michael, who is studying mechanics in college in Cardiff, said: "I was strapped to the bed. All I could see was straight up and I could only see with one eye.
"I was in a really bad way and I couldn't move."
"It's put me off drinking," he added, advising teenagers to be sensible and avoid his experience.
"Don't go down to the beach.
"There's so many places to fall and I've had friends in hospital because they've dehydrated there."
The youngster admitted: "I shouldn't really be sitting here.
"People fall five to 10ft and end up dead or paralysed - and I fell 35ft.
"It's horrendous.
"Now the message needs to be put across to people my age," he added.
"I fell and almost died - but not everyone might be as lucky."
Michael's mum Julie was in work at the Theatre Royal when she was told her son was in a bad way.
"When I got to the hospital he was in Resuscitation, and they put me in a family room while the teams worked on him," she said.
"They were really good there."
Julie, who said she is grateful her son is alive but angry at his actions, now hopes his experience will deter other youngsters from drinking alcohol at Barry Island.
Michael's injuries include: Broken left elbow with the bone pinned and plated during surgery; Broken right wrist; Fractured eye socket; 12 stitches to a gash above his eye; Bruising on the brain; Short-term memory loss; Bruised and bleeding liver, bladder, and spleen; 17 stitches to hand wound that went down to the tendons; Breathing difficulties.
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