A quick-thinking schoolboy saved his dad’s livelihood after he fell from a ladder and got his fingers trapped.
Joiner Callum Irvine was working an extension to his workshop when he fell 14ft from a ladder and got his hand trapped in metal sheeting, ripping the skin and tissue.
Nine-year-old son Jack sprang into action, grabbing his dad a towel to stem the bleeding before asking virtual assistant Alexa to call his grandad.
The clever youngster, from New Aberdour, even remembered that the number would be stored as “dad” in his father’s phone.
Jack’s swift actions meant his dad remained conscious and was treated in time to prevent major long-term damage.
He is now being honoured for his bravery with a national award from the Boys’ Brigade after being nominated by his officers at the 1st Rosehearty group.
‘Shy and anxious’ Jack did ‘all the right things’
Mr Irvine, who needed a six-hour operation to reconstruct his hands, said he and his wife Natalie was very proud and said a “switch just clicked” for Jack.
“Me and the wife Natalie are extremely proud of his actions because he is normally such a shy and anxious kid,” he said.
“There was blood all over me and all over the floor. It was just pouring.
“I was conscious but struggling to stay with it. I just wanted to curl up and close my eyes.
“But he did all the right things – a switch just clicked.
“He did a good job getting help so quickly because at the hospital they said, with the amount of blood I was losing, it could have been a lot worse.”
Mr Irvine, 32, had been installing metal sheeting to a workshop extension when the ladder he was standing on slipped.
As he tried to save himself, his hands got caught between a metal door track and 1mm-thick sheeting.
The knife-like metal cut through the flesh, “degloving” his left hand to expose the finger bones and severing a finger tip on his right hand, and he fell 14ft to the ground.
Back to work
Covered in blood, Mr Irvine managed to stumble in agony and semi-conscious into the kitchen to alert his young son, who quickly took control.
After using Alexa, Jack then raced out to the lane to get help, before his granddad, who lives nearby, arrived and drove Mr Irvine to hospital in Fraserburgh.
Following intense physiotherapy, Mr Irvine is now back at work.
He said: “It’s very obvious my fingers have been operated on but they are there and they’re working. It was very worrying because as a joiner they’re your best friends.
“But I wouldn’t have recovered the way I have if it hadn’t been for Jack’s quick thinking.”
He added: “It just shows you that technology is not always a bad thing.”
Jack will now be presented with the Boys’ Brigade’s President’s Commendation award later this summer.
Mr Irvine said: “It was the hospital that brought it to our attention just how important Jack’s actions were and we’re really chuffed he’s getting the recognition.
“It’s helped boost his confidence, so something good has come out of something bad.
“We are all extremely proud of him.”
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