A TEENAGER'S foot was impaled on a 4in nail which pinned him to a piece of plywood in an horrific accident.

Gary Evans, 13, went searching for the toilet in a derelict shop in Abbey Street, Accrington, when he accidentally trod on a rusty nail.

It pierced his trainer and sunk nearly 2in into his foot, rooting him to the spot.

A male passer-by on Saturday raised the alarm and Accrington firefighters had to undertake the delicate job of cutting the nail in two, leaving most of it in the teenager's foot.

Accrington paramedics took Gary, a pupil at Hollins High School, Accrington, to Blackburn Royal Infirmary to have the nail removed from his foot.

Gary is recovering at his home at the Royal Oak, Meadow Street, Accrington, and will be unable to attend school for a week or march with Accrington Pipe Band, for whom he plays the tenor drum.

His mother, landlady Lisa, 35, said: "The nail went right through his new trainers. The paramedics said that if it had bent as it went into his foot, surgeons would have had to operate on him.

"He is still shaken from the accident. His foot and ankle have swollen up and he was crying all night after it happened.

"He has to walk on his heel for now. This will teach him a lesson never to go inside derelict buildings."

She added: "The firefighters and paramedics were great. Gary would have been stuck there for hours if it wasn't for them.

"They talked to Gary to take his mind off what was happening at the scene."

Accrington firefighter Les Warren said: "We had to cut the nail in two very slowly because part of it was still stuck in the lad's foot. The boy was very brave and didn't cry."

A spokesman for Accrington ambulance said: "We kept the nail in until we got him to casualty, where the trainer and nail were pulled off together."

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