Girl impaled on spikes in rush to class

A 14-year-old schoolgirl was impaled on a security gate at Mt Maunganui College. Photo / Bay of Plenty Times

A 14-year-old schoolgirl who was impaled on a security gate at Mt Maunganui College was lucky not to have suffered further injury when she was freed before ambulance officers arrived.

The Year 11 student was entering the school grounds in class time, after having missed her school bus from Papamoa.

She was climbing over the gate at a side entrance of the school about 11am on Friday when she slipped, piercing her calf on a steel barb.

The gate shuts off an alley leading into Waitui Grove. It is about 1.8m high with a row of sharp spikes on top.

College principal Terry Collett told the Bay of Plenty Times the gate was closed during school hours and the spikes were supposed to be a deterrent to stop people climbing it.

Students in a nearby class heard her cries for help and teachers and the school nurse helped to lift her off the gate.

Mr Collett said St John Ambulance officers were there within minutes and considering what had happened, her wound was "not too bad".

He said it was the first time anyone had become impaled on the gate.

Mt Maunganui fire brigade joined St John Ambulance in responding in case cutting equipment was needed to free the girl.

However, when they arrived she had already been removed from the gate, said fire brigade station officer Peter Clark.

"She was in a lot of pain. There was blood all over. It definitely pierced her skin," he said.

"She must have slipped on top and it stabbed through her leg."

Mr Clark said it was fortunate the accident happened in the middle of the day as there were plenty of people around to help her.

"She wasn't totally stuck. I've had people stuck like that before and they just couldn't get off. I think the teachers were holding her up for a while and managed to get her off," Mr Clark said.

Mt Maunganui St John operations team manager Gary Bishell said people should not try to remove someone who had become impaled.

"Normally if it's a deeply impaled injury we would leave it in situ [as is] or deal with it on site.

"Generally, we would not move if we think there's a possibility of doing further damage."

Mr Bishell said the girl did not appear to have suffered any further damage from being removed from the gate and was taken to Tauranga Hospital.

She was not expected to be at school today.

This month an 11-year-old boy became impaled on a steel spiked fence at Liston College in Henderson, Auckland.

He fell on to the school's perimeter fence and impaled his knee on a steel rod.

A man with a ladder took his weight as people tried to cut the rod with a hacksaw.

Two days earlier, a Te Puke woman who impaled herself on a rake had to wait until firefighters cut the long handle down to a size where she was able to fit into an ambulance.

The rake was left in the woman's foot until she was treated at Tauranga Hospital.

- APN