Man undergoes surgery to have spike removed from hand after being impaled on a railing
A young man was due to undergo surgery this morning to remove a piece of metal from his hand after he became impaled on the railings of an historic abbey in Ennis.
The alarm was raised at around 2.20am today when emergency services were alerted to the incident on Abbey Street in the town.
The man had somehow become impaled on a metal railing outside the 13th century Franciscan Abbey which is located just 100 metres from Ennis Garda station.
Ambulance paramedics and two units of Ennis Fire Brigade responded to the scene along with Gardaí. On arrival, they found a man in his early 20s standing on top a 5-ft high stone wall with his right hand firmly impaled in a spike on top of the railing.
Paramedics treated and monitored the patient while fire service personnel commenced the delicate task of removing the man from the railing.
It took almost an hour for fire service personnel to safely rescue the man and place him in the care of NAS paramedics.
The injured man was taken to University Hospital Limerick where he was due to undergo surgery this morning to remove the metal piece.
A spokesman for Clare County Fire and Rescue Service said: “Ennis Fire Service was mobilised to a rescue in the Town Centre at 2.23am. Working with the HSE’s National Ambulance Service, Ennis Fire Brigade carried out an effective rescue of the individual.”
