A WOMAN has recalled the frightening moment a garden wall collapsed on a teenage boy in today's storm.
Janice Hardy, 49, told the Advertiser she was about to take her 11-year-old son to visit a friend when the 6ft wall they were walking past on Beauchamp Road, Upper Norwood, was blown over at approximately 4pm this afternoon.
A 13-year-old boy, who Ms Hardy said had just been popping to the shops, suffered pelvic injuries as he took almost the full force of the wall.
Ms Hardy, of Crystal Palace, said her son, who was walking just behind her, had been grazed by falling bricks.
She said: "The conditions were horrendous and I was walking just in front of my son, who was just in front of the other boy.
"I heard this huge crash and looked behind to see the boy under the wall. The wall didn't crumble it just slammed down and looked as if it had been rebuilt horizontally on the floor.
"It was quite a wide wall and the only bit that crumbled was the bit that hit the boy. He was quite a big boy and I thought he was a man to start with.
"It was lucky he was so tall because it could have crashed down on his head otherwise. I wasn't sure if he was moving to start with but then he eventually started moving the bricks and tried to move."
She said the boy then started groaning and attempted to get up before realising the extent of his injuries.
Ms Hardy added: "He got up but then he started screaming. Not wailing but he knew he was hurt. A lot of the neighbours had heard the crash and came out of their houses. I tried to phone the police but couldn't because there was rain pouring all down my phone.
"Luckily, one of the neighbours did and they ended up bringing out a pillow and blanket for the poor boy.
"Someone called his mum and she came before the ambulance took him away."
The boy was taken to St George's Hospital in Tooting by the London Ambulance Service as a priority.
Ms Hardy said she was "utterly stunned" that the wall had collapsed and said it was just a matter of seconds from landing on her or her son.
She said: "It was just inches from me and less than inches for my son because some bricks actually hit him. You shudder to think what would have happened to him because he is a lot smaller than the other boy.
"He has a plaster for the graze on his foot now and he's a bit shaken up but he'll be alright. I just hope the other boy is ok.
"It's really not a nice thing to happen before Christmas."
Joao Manuel, 48, who lives in part of the property of which the garden wall is part of, said he was stunned by the collapse.
He said: "I thought it was a very strong wall. I returned home and there was all this mess. I didn't know a boy was under it though."
