'Miracle' escape for escalator boy

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-31489649

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The father of a boy whose foot got caught in a shopping centre escalator said he thought his son was "going to die" and he had "never been so scared".

Ryley Turner, five, got the top of his shoe trapped in the escalator at intu Lakeside in Essex on Saturday.

As the escalator kept running, his foot was drawn further into the mechanism.

Bystanders and firefighters spent more than an hour releasing him in a rescue described as a "miracle" by Ryley's father Adrian.

Mr Turner, from Grays, was visiting the shopping centre to get foreign currency for a holiday, and to go to the cinema with his son.

"We were on the escalator, about two-thirds of the way down, when Ryley started shouting 'ow ow ow'," Mr Turner said.

"His shoe was being dragged into the mechanism. I tried to pull him out, I was screaming for someone to push the stop button."

Mr Turner, 36, said hundreds of shoppers stopped to watch the rescue attempt, with a number of shoppers offering to help free Ryley's foot - including one man who had bought a screwdriver.

A member of staff from a BHS shop at the bottom of the escalator sat with Ryley and tried to keep him and Mr Turner calm.

"The people who helped were just amazing," Mr Turner said. "I wish I had their names. I would like to say thank you to everyone who helped us."

Mr Turner and Ryley's mother dropped off a thank-you card to firefighters from Grays who had assisted during the "very distressing" rescue.

"When they pulled him out, I cried my eyes out," Mr Turner said.

Ryley was left with a cut to his foot but no broken toes or other bones, an escape his father described as "a miracle".