Boy impaled by metal spike: 'I didn't even feel any pain'

Josh Hassan was impaled through the chest by a metal spike when he slipped climbing over a gate. Credit: ITV/Daybreak

A 12-year-old boy who was impaled by a metal spike told Daybreak he only realised the extent of his injury when he unzipped his jacket and found it had gone through his chest, as he did not feel any pain.

Josh Hassan was climbing over a metal gate to retrieve his football when he slipped and became impaled.

The spike missed his heart by just two-and-a-half inches.

Josh said: "I thought it just went through my jacket ... I zipped open the jacket to find that it went through, zipped it up and then called for my neighbour Chris.

"I didn't even feel any pain, I was just in shock because I didn't know it was that extreme".

Chris Spalding, the man who held Josh still for about an hour to prevent further injury, said, "I did it to take the pressure off the wounds because it would have got a lot worse".

Josh's mum, Dawn Hassan, said he was very calm during the incident, adding, "If he hadn't been so calm I probably wouldn't have been so calm!"

Josh has kept the metal spike - and his ripped jacket - as a souvenir.