Falkirk toddler injured at home dies in hospital

By GEORGE MAIR
Published on 22/02/2013 13:07

A THREE-YEAR-OLD boy has died in hospital after he reportedly fell down steps on a housing estate earlier this week.

The child died late on Thursday after what police described as an “incident” at an address in Garry Place, in Hallglen, Falkirk, on Tuesday.

He was initially taken to Forth Valley Royal Hospital but required an emergency transfer to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh, according to the Scottish Ambulance Service.

Residents in Garry Place said the child had fallen down an uncarpeted, concrete common stair.

The incident happened in a brick-walled close in a three-­storey, council-built housing block. Emergency services had arrived outside the block where the boy and his parents lived at around 4:40pm on Tuesday.

A paramedic carried the child to an ambulance, neighbours said.

One neighbour living in the block said the toddler’s death was “a terrible tragedy on our doorstep”. Another neighbour, Paul Nisbet, 30, said: “I saw the ­ambulance arrive, I saw the paramedics going in, and a wee while later coming out with the boy. One paramedic was ­holding him.

“I saw his mother at the back of the ambulance. She was distraught.

“I’ve been told he had fallen down the stairs – it’s a terrible thing. His parents haven’t been back to the flat since.” One woman said: “We’ve been told he fell down the stairs. I have a two-year-old of my own and I know that all you have to do is blink or turn away for a split ­second and they can be off.

“It’s an absolute tragedy. I think they only moved in

November, and people hadn’t really got to know them.”

She added: “I saw a quick ­response unit arrive and an unmarked police car pulled up in the street, so I knew something was up, but what has happened to this little boy is just terrible.

“I have seen the couple come and go – they were just a normal couple, getting on with it, but a tragedy like this can happen so quickly.”

Another neighbour said: “It was just two parents and their child who lived there. It’s a ­terrible thing to happen on your doorstep.”

Tributes were posted on ­Facebook. One user said: “You’re an angel in the sky that will never leave ma eye. Love you, ­little man.”

Another posted: “It was a bad accident. Everyone’s worst ­nightmare. Thoughts and prayers go out to all the family.”

A spokeswoman for Central Scotland Police said inquiries were “still and an early stage” and were “ongoing to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident”.

She said that no one had been arrested or charged in connection with the incident.

She added: “A post mortem is due to be carried out.”