New Report 1046


Fight For Boy's Life

Hurt In Railway Siding Accident

A 12-year-old Haverstock Hill schoolboy lies dangerously ill in Hampstead General Hospital following an accident at Hampstead Heath L.M.S, railway sidings, when he was crushed between the buffers of two moving trucks.

His ribs were fractured and his arm was nearly severed from his body.

Donald [sic] Mayersbach, the injured boy, left his home at Maitland Park Road on Thursday to go swimming at the Central Baths in Finchley Road.

He bought a ticket at the booking-office in South End Road, then wandered off to play among the trucks.

Following the accident, he ran screaming along the platform bleeding profusely until he collapsed. He was removed to hospital, where emergency treatment was administered in a fight to save his life.

His mother told a Hampstead News reporter, "I don't know exactly what happened. His father is a railway man, but curiously enough, Donald [sic] has never shown a great interest in trains.


Source: Hampstead News, Thursday, September 12, 1946