Tough Zaybein heads home after skull heals

Ten-year-old Zaybein Wathey jetted home to Upper Hutt yesterday, 11 days after cracking his scull at Inflatable World in Hawke's Bay.

A boy who fractured his skull at Napier's Inflatable World slept in his own bed last night having made a "remarkable" recovery.

Zaybein Wathey, 10, flew out of Auckland with his stepfather Paul Marjoribanks just before 1pm yesterday.

The promising young rugby player was on a bouncy castle when he fractured both the back of his head and temple after falling down a hole at the indoor playground in Thames St, Pandora, on Tuesday July 7. It is understood he hit the ground head first.

St John Ambulance paramedics attended the scene before he began having seizures and was flown to Auckland's Starship Hospital.

While staying awake for more than a couple of minutes was a struggle at the start, Zaybein pulled through the rough patch and was doing extremely well, Mr Marjoribanks said.

"He's made a remarkable recovery ... he'll probably be back at school on Monday."

Eleven days after the horrific fall the "energetic" youngster was back to his usual self.

"He's hard to keep up with. I have to keep reminding him to take things slow."

His recovery was "a huge relief" for the whole family, who wanted to say a special thanks to Hawke's Bay and Starship hospitals for their care.

"They were both incredible. Hastings managed pain really well and Starship were absolutely phenomenal. They deserve all the donations and support they get."

Mr Marjoribanks said people would not believe Zaybein had suffered a couple of cracks in his head.

"The day before last he was up from 8am to 8pm. He's only just got back to walking and now of course, he wants to run, but we're not going to let him."

Zaybein said being in hospital had not been much fun but seeing some of Auckland's sights was a highlight.

The pair saw some of the city, including Kelly Tarlton's Sea Life Aquarium after Zaybein was discharged on Wednesday.

They would head back to their hometown of Upper Hutt later today.

"The accident happened on day one of the school holidays, and now it's the last day of the holidays," Mr Marjoribanks said.

"I think Zaybein would quite like to explore Auckland a bit more but he's looking forward to catching up with his mates."

Inflatable World has temporarily closed its Napier branch while the incident is investigated by WorkSafe.