Teen's mum praises 'hero' mates after freak skate accident

The mother of a Northland teen hurt in a freak skateboard accident says his friends are heroes who may have saved him from bleeding to death.

Jake Ward, 15, is now recovering at home after putting his arm through a window while jumping a flight of stairs on a skateboard.

The gory accident occurred at Kerikeri High School on Saturday afternoon, the first day of the winter school holidays.

A video on his Instagram page shows Jake, who was wearing a helmet, jumping a flight of concrete steps behind the school's Business, Enterprise and Social Sciences block.

The clip shows the jump itself and the landing were executed perfectly.

However, with only a few metres between the bottom of steps and a classroom, Jake had to make a sharp left turn to avoid hitting the wall.

As he turned he threw out his right arm for balance, accidentally punching through a plate-glass window.

A severe laceration to Jake's forearm can be seen just as the video cuts out.

The accident occurred as Jake jumped a set of stairs on a skateboard. Photo / Instagram

Mother Rina Ward praised Jake's friends for their "very calm and efficient" response.

"If it wasn't for them he would have lost a lot of blood. They're heroes. If he didn't have these mates, or if they didn't know what to do, things could have really got a lot worse. I don't even want to think about it."

She said the other boys tore up their shirts and wrapped his wound, applied pressure and held up his arm to stem the bleeding. They called an ambulance and reassured him while keeping calm themselves.

She had to follow by car so one of his mates accompanied him in the back of the ambulance first to Bay of Islands Hospital and then to Whangārei. His friend later had to call his dad to pick him up.

Jake had surgery on Sunday morning and was allowed home on Monday.

Kerikeri daredevil Jake Ward, seen here doing a backflip at Kerikeri Skate Park, is best known for his skill on the scooter. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Kerikeri High associate principal Mike Clent said the injured student received "very prompt" care from St John.

"When I spoke to his family they were thrilled with the care he had first at Bay of Islands Hospital and later at Whangārei Hospital."

Clent said the school had no issue with people using the grounds outside school hours as long as they were respectful.

Jake is best known for his scooter tricks but he has recently also taken to skateboarding. He is one of Northland's top scooter exponents with 11,500 followers on an Instagram page where he shares clips of his tricks.

He is often seen at Kerikeri Skate Park performing gravity-defying back flips and other feats.

A video of his accident has already been "liked" 15,000 times with comments from Instagram users as far away as Poland.

One of Jake's earlier videos, of a trick never previously executed in New Zealand, had clocked up more than 1 million views.

His mother said he had joked that he would only have one viral video in his lifetime, but it now looked like he was on his way to a second.

He was expected to require long-term hand therapy due to nerve damage.

She said he was "taking one day at a time" but looking forward to getting back on his skateboard.

Clent confirmed the broken window was made of plate glass rather than safety glass.

All windows in new school buildings were made of safety glass while plate glass windows in older parts of the school were replaced as buildings were renovated or replaced.

According to the Ministry of Education, grade A safety glass must be used wherever people could fall against it; in all doors and panels around doors; in high-risk buildings such as gyms, pools, halls and grandstands; and buildings within 6m of playgrounds, courts or playing fields.

None of those were thought to apply to the room where the accident occurred.

The rules also say safety glass must be used any time glass is replaced or newly installed, if the glass starts less than 1.6 m above the ground, floor or raised seating.

St John confirmed an ambulance was called to Hone Heke Rd at 2.52pm on Saturday, with one patient treated then transported to hospital in a moderate condition.

The trick starts well as Jake launches himself from the top of a flight of steps...

The jump and landing are executed perfectly...

But a fraction of a second later it all goes horribly wrong...

As Jake puts his arm through a plate glass window...