Boy 'in line for thousands' after speaker falls on head during Thomson holiday

A boy who suffered life-changing brain injuries when a speaker dropped from a height of 50 foot is due to receive compensation from Thomson.

Stanley Birch was on a sun lounger when the metal block fell from a balcony and hit his head at a luxury resort in Turgutreis, Turkey.

Parents Mitchell, 35, and Amy, 32, feared their two-year-old was dead as he lay motionless and covered in blood by the pool at the five-star Yasmin Resort.

A doctor staying at the hotel picked him up and he was rushed to nearby Bodrum Hospital where medics operated on him for three hours.

Surgeons discovered he had suffered an epidural haematoma and had to drain off excess blood on his brain in June 2014.

He had 20 staples after the operation and a further ten stitches to his face that was cut by the speaker. Stanley flew home two weeks later.

But scar tissue on the right side of Stanley's brain has left him with severe brain damage, potentially affecting his future development.

Stanley, now six, could receive hundreds of thousands from holiday giant TUI, which run First Choice and Thomson.

Amy, a beautician who lives with Mitchell, Stanley, and daughter Rosie, eight, in Gillingham, Kent, said: "I heard this bang and everyone was screaming.

"I turned round and saw him lying still. He was off the sun lounger, which was completely smashed. I thought he was dead.

"A man nearby said he was a doctor and picked him up, I could see blood was pouring across his face.

"He wasn't crying, I knew something was wrong because I knew he should be crying."

Stanley has to go for check-ups every month and his brain development is closely monitored.

Mitchell, a contract supervisor, added: "He is happy and doing well, and we are lucky he is alive. But no-one knows for sure if he will develop 100 per cent as he should have.

"We can't get that day out of our heads, we really thought he was dead."

Thomson accepted liability last year, but it is unlikely Stanley will receive any compensation until he is at least 18.

Mark Gore, from the solicitors representing Stanley, said: "We must wait for key moments in his life, such as his GCSEs, to determine what effect this has had on him."

A spokeswoman for Thomson and First Choice said: "Our resort team offered every possible support and assistance at the time of and in the aftermath of the incident, conducting a full investigation to understand what happened.

"Our Welfare Team based in the UK were also in direct contact with the customers and continued to offer the necessary support."