Boy, 12, rushed to hospital after trampoline spring strikes his back 'like a bullet' in freak accident

A 12-year-old boy from the United Kingdom received an emergency procedure on Sunday after a metal spring from a trampoline he was playing on dislodged and struck his back, SWNS reports.

Jamie Quinlan, of Louth, Lincolnshire, was jumping on the trampoline with some friends when the coil suddenly popped out.

"Me and my friends were bouncing on the trampoline, and me being stupid, I said to them, 'Oh, why don't we all jump at the same time?'" Jamie recalled. "So we did and then I felt something really went into my back, and it turned out to be a spring."

The six-inch coil reportedly hit the boy at 70 mph "like a bullet," tearing through his shirt and lodging itself into his back — just several centimeters away from his spine.

"I was panicking so much because I didn't know what was there," Jamie said. "My friends were looking at me in shock like I was a monster or something. They called the parents, and I ran off the trampoline and sat on the step because I was just in pain, because it was so heavy, and it was pulling my skin down."

The 12-year-old was then immediately rushed to the hospital, where doctors removed the spring, according to WTXF. Since then, Jamie's father, Ian, has cautioned other parents to be aware of their children's safety.

"Be vigilant and watch what's going on," Ian told SWNS. "You can't watch your children every second everyday. You just can't do that, but just be vigilant [about] what's going on. It takes a second for something to happen, and, in this instance, we were very, very lucky. It could have ended very differently."

Trampoline-related injuries are, in fact, more common than one would expect. In 2012, for example, approximately 94,000 emergency room-treated trampoline injuries were reported in the U.S., according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. In addition, the American Academy of Pediatrics notes that children under the age of 6 are most at risk of suffering broken bones, concussions, sprains and strains, and neck injuries while playing on trampolines.