A 9-year-old from Oceanside is calling himself lucky after he impaled his arm on a fence Saturday.
Joseph Ricardo was standing on a wall watching his friends throw a football when his footing slipped and he forcing his arm down on a spear-like spindle.
He was rushed to Rady Children’s Hospital with a large chunk of fence still in his arm.
Joseph’s friend Mark Cerullo-Gullingsrud and his younger brother Zeke said the accident happened in a split second.
“I keep thinking about it,” Mark told NBC 7. “Keeps coming into my head how crazy it is.”
Next door neighbor Ricky Salgado heard the commotion and rushed over to see what was wrong.
“I’ve never seen anything like that like,” Salgado explained. “Unbelievable. You usually see those kind of things in the movies.”
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“I was thinking it was a dream because it was so crazy,” Joseph’s friend Zeke said.
To make sure Joseph wouldn’t injure his arm more, Mark and Zeke’s dad held Joseph in place until medical help arrived.
“He stayed extremely calm and I think if he freaked out then Joseph would have freaked out and started crying but he kept his cool,” Mark said of his dad.
Joseph is out of the hospital and ready to show off his battle scars – his cast. Luckily he has no broken bones, ruptured arteries or permanent damage.
