A bouncy castle company has been left "shocked" over the "terrible freak incident" where a nine-year-old was seriously injured in an inflatable zorb ball attraction.
Liverpool Echo reports the young boy was injured when the inflatable was blown away by a gust of wind shortly before 2pm on Sunday June 4 during the Southport Food and Drink Festival in Victoria Park.
Bouncy Castle Parade said its "thoughts and prayers" are with the boy and they "wish him a rapid recovery". They are currently assisting with multi-agency investigations.
North West Ambulance Service were called to the scene at 1.56pm. The nine-year-old boy was airlifted to hospital with multiple serious injuries.
Eyewitness Paul Holmes said: "We were just stood next to the zorb pit looking for something to eat. There was a breeze quite quick and I just said 'oh that breeze is nice'.
"In my peripheral vision, I saw two of the zorb balls go up into the sky and I just screamed at the top of my voice 'there's a kid in one of those balls someone catch him.'
"The main zorb of concern I would say was probably 15-20 metres in the sky easily. The wind just whipped it up into the sky. It was like a bit of a freak weather phenomena."
Jeff Wilkinson, Managing Director of Bouncy Castle Parade said: "Understandably, we are currently assisting with multi-agency investigations over this terrible freak incident. Therefore, we are unable to comment further at this moment in time.
"We are all shocked over what happened. Our thoughts and prayers are with the small boy's family and wish him a rapid recovery."
A spokesperson for Sefton Council said: "We can confirm that an Air Ambulance was called to Victoria Park, Southport this afternoon (Sunday, June 4) following an accident within the grounds. First aid responders from St Johns Ambulance reacted quickly to provide assistance to the person involved prior to the arrival of other emergency services.
"Following the incident, a full health and safety inspection has been undertaken at the Southport Food and Drink Festival and the event remains open to the public. Our thoughts are with those involved in the accident and we wish them a full recovery."
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