Schoolboy, 13, spends days with pencil stuck in hand

A THIRTEEN-year-old was left in agony after a hospital sent him home twice with a pencil embedded in his hand.

Robbie Appleby-Socket, of Askern, Doncaster, was larking about with his friends when the six-inch pencil wedged inside his skin, leaving him in severe pain.

His mother Emma rushed him to Doncaster Royal Infirmary’s accident and emergency department, where he was told to come back the following day for an operation.

But when the pair returned the next morning, they were told Robbie’s name was not on the list, and the operation would have to be rescheduled for another time. 

Desperate Mrs Appleby-Socket was then forced to take her son 20 miles from their home to Pinderfields Hopsital in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

Doctors there operated immediately and Robbie stayed in hospital for two nights on an antibiotic drip to ensure the injury would not become infected.

Mrs Appleby-Socket said: ‘Robbie was in agony and the pencil was protruding from his hand but the staff at Doncaster Royal Infirmary didn’t seem that concerned.

‘You would have thought it was something they could have done straight away but they just left the pencil where it was, put a bandage over it and said he would have to come back.’