In shock after falling into canal basin
THE 17 years old Eltham Sinclair is asking for Walsall Canal Basin to be better lit and have rails, after he fell in.
Telling that he is in shock after his fall into the water, Janet Friend reports.
He tells that he was not the only person to fall in the water that day. He was following Google Maps that instructed him to walk by the side of the basin, but there were no lights or railings, and as he was attempting to avoid a puddle he caught a mooring ring and fell in.
Able to get out
Luckily he used the mooring ring to get himself out of the water after heaving up on the side, otherwise he believes he would not have been able to get out, as he was not on the bottom, the basin being deep and his heavy backpack weighing him down.
It was then people from the café pulled him right out and took him in to dry out. It was there he was told he was the third or fourth person to fall in that day.
Continuing on his way, Eltham felt ill and went to A&E at the hospital as his breathing was getting uncontrollable with his hands turning blue. He was treated by doctors and eventually released, but he is calling for better lighting around the basin and railings to make it safe, especially as he was sent that way by Google Maps, as others will obviously be.