A 12-year-old boy who impaled himself on a foot long spike has thanked his “hero” who held him for 45 minutes while waiting for the emergency crews to arrive.

Ilford Recorder: The foot long spike went into Josh's chestThe foot long spike went into Josh's chest (Image: Archant)

Josh Hassan, of Haywards Close, Chadwell Heath said that neighbour Chris Spalding, 21 was a true hero and saved his life.

Ilford Recorder: Josh with his mum Dawn HassanJosh with his mum Dawn Hassan (Image: Archant)

Josh slipped on a gate while looking for his football on Tuesday and had to be taken to hospital with the spike still in his chest.

Josh said: “Chris is a true hero - if it wasn’t for Chris then I would have died.”

He said that when the spike went into his chest he could not feel it and at first thought it was just his favourite red jacket which had become caught.

Chris said that Josh had asked him to help retrieve his football and said he would help once he had finished cooking.

“His foot slipped and it looked like he had just caught his jacket and started calling for me. I ran out and lifted him,” Chris said.

“It was horrible. I could see he was in lots of pain but I needed to keep him as calm as possible.”

Chris held on to Josh, with the help of fellow neighbour Martin Fisher, 43, for almost an hour until the emergency services arrived.

“I just carried on holding him and Martin said the spike had gone through. It was the worst injury I have ever seen in my life.

“Josh was so calm, he wasn’t screaming or anything. I knew he was in pain so I didn’t think about the time, I just hoped he was going to be ok.”

He said that he had even seen Josh out the next day playing football again.

Chris said: “It makes me feel brave and really happy that I was there and that I helped him as much as I did.”

Josh said he thinks he must have gone into shock when the spike went into his chest.

“I didn’t feel anything,” Josh said. “The adrenaline must have kicked in quite quickly.”

“I unzipped my jacked and saw it was in me. I’m really thankful to everyone. Everyone came to help – my neighbours are really nice.”

After undergoing surgery for an hour and a half at Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel he saw the pictures doctors had taken of the spike inside his chest.

“When they showed me the pictures, well, that was a bit graphic,” he added.

Josh’s mum Dawn said she did not realise how seriously her son had been hurt at first and thought he had fallen off his bike.

“I walked round and saw him impaled on the fence,” she said. “They said it had gone through his chest and I knew I had to be calm. I tried to support him but it just seemed forever for the emergency services to get there.”

She said she cannot thank the numerous neighbours who went to Josh’s aid and that they had saved her son’s life.

Dawn said: “I cannot believe I have got such an amazing community around me. I cannot say thank you enough. When they cut him down I could see the seriousness of what happened but he was so calm.”

She said that she now wants the gate to remain open permanently so that this does not happened to another child.

She added: “I want to get the gate removed even if it means I have to get an angle grinder, I will cut those spikes off myself. I would not be able to live with myself if this happened again.”