A SCOTS schoolboy almost lost a foot after his wellington boot became trapped in a shopping centre escalator.
Six-year-old Ryan McFedries was trapped for more than an hour, as the grinding mechanisms chewed at the end of his leg.
Ryan was on an escalator at the Xscape leisure centre in Braehead, Renfrewshire, when his welly was snared on a metal grill.
The brave youngster was eventually freed by passers by, who ran to a nearby restaurant for a pair of scissors to cut him free from his footwear.
Ryan’s shaken mum Gayle, from Lochfield in Renfrewshire, rushed her terrified son to hospital for treatment after he lost a layer of skin.
Xscape are now carrying out an investigation after staff were criticised for their lack of help during the emergency.
Gayle said: “I feared Ryan was going to lose his foot. It was an absolute nightmare.
“He turned chalk white and kept saying he was going to faint. He was screaming in agony.”
Lochfield Primary pupil Ryan had been participating in a sledging session at the Lylesland Beaver troop when his night turned to horror.
Gayle added: “We were going down the escalator behind Ryan’s friend Jack and his papa and were just about to get off when Ryan shouted ‘My foot’s stuck’.
“I tried lifting him out but he wouldn’t budge. He was trapped.
“The heel of his left welly was stuck in the grooves of the metal step.
“He turned to his left to try to get his foot out but, at that point, the step above folded down and jammed him between the two.
“Thankfully, a passer-by pressed the emergency stop button, which prevented things from getting a whole lot worse, but Ryan was stuck and screaming in pain.”
Gayle said it was horrific to hear her son’s screams and said she feels let down by the lack of support from Xscape staff.
She added: “There were no first aid people on hand. We were given a wheelchair by security staff but weren’t escorted out of the building.
“Once we got to hospital, Ryan had an X-ray and, although he doesn’t have any broken bones, he has lost a layer of skin off his foot.”
But Ryan seems to be in high spirits during his recovery and joked about being able to dodge school classes.
He said: ““It was really sore and I screamed so loud. I felt like my foot was going to break.
“It is still sore now and I’ve been told not to do gym for a week.”
A spokeswoman for Xscape said staff with first aid training acted swiftly to help Ryan.
She added: “We are aware of the escalator incident that took place on Monday and are currently carrying out a full investigation.
“Having reviewed our CCTV footage, it shows that our security staff, who are all first aid trained, acted quickly and were on hand within a minute of the incident happening.
“Although an ambulance was called by our security team, they were informed that it would be at least an hour and the boy’s mother opted to instead take him to hospital herself.
“The most important thing is that the young boy is okay and we look forward to welcoming him and his family back to Xscape soon.”
