AN injured teenager was left needing stitches and time off school after slashing his toe on a broken beer bottle left discarded on a beach.
Sam Jones, 13, of Harwich, visited Earlhams’ Beach, near Dovercourt Bay and Harwich, with two of his friends on Sunday.
The trio’s otherwise enjoyable trip, however, soon turned sour when the Harwich and Dovercourt High School student cut his big toe.
The damage, described as being a deep and bloody cut, had been caused by shards of glass from a broken beer bottle.
Carelessly, it had been left hidden in a section of long grass on the beach.
Sam’s pal eventually managed to get hold of his mum, Fern Jones, who sent her partner to collect him.
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After arriving at the beach he found and spoke with a couple who had been taking care of Sam, before taking him to the Fryatt Hospital.
Following a short while in the minor injuries unit, Sam’s painful wound was eventually cleaned and stitched up, and he is now on the mend.“They called me and said it was pretty bad,” added Fern.
“It was a completely unnecessary and avoidable accident which has resulted in Sam missing four days of school so far.
“It was very painful for him and it was a nasty deep cut.
“My son’s trip to the beach with his friends, turned into a trip to hospital.
“It was a smashed beer bottle but it could have been a lot worse and Sam was lucky the injury wasn’t worse.”
Since publishing her son’s ordeal online, other residents living in the area have said they often find glass and other rubbish on the beach.
Fern, who is now concerned about taking her daughter to the beach through fear she may one day be injured, has now urged people to be more considerate.
Fern, 42, added: “I understand kids will be kids and teenagers, along with young adults, like to have barbecues and parties along that stretch of beach.
“But they need to not smash glass on the embankment and they need to take their rubbish home with them.
“I feel it is dangerous and just sheer laziness to leave a smashed beer bottle there for children and dogs to get injured on.
“I have a three-year-old daughter and it has made me think twice before visiting the beach with her now.”
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