A TEENAGE boy who fractured his arm and dislocated his elbow after falling from a first-floor window said last night he feels “very lucky”.

Dean Smith, 14, fell from the bathroom window on Saturday after becoming locked out of his Darlington home after losing his key.

His mother, Sharon, thanked Dean’s friend, Ben Stockdale, also 14, for his quick-thinking in raising the alarm, as well as staff from the Great North Air Ambulance, who flew Dean to The James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough.

She also thanked paramedics and hospital staff for the care her son received.

Dean, who attends Haughton Community School, is now back at home with both arms in plaster and is expected to miss at least the rest of this term.

His left elbow was dislocated and he had an operation on his right wrist, but has suffered no other major injuries.

“I have been very lucky,” he said. “My mum had gone out and I was playing out with Ben. We wanted a drink, but I didn’t have a key because I have lost so many.

“Ben gave me a boost and I climbed in the bathroom window, went downstairs and let him in.

So, my mum didn’t know I’d been back in, I let Ben out, locked the door and then went to climb out the bathroom window.

“As I tried to get onto the canopy, I fell. I don’t remember how, I just remember falling.”

Hearing a bang, Ben called the ambulance and then phoned Ms Smith, who was on a day out at the seaside with her partner and baby, to let them know what had happened.

“I was beside myself. I thought Ben was joking at first. It was such a worry,” said Ms Smith, 38.

“He has been so lucky, but I think he has learned his lesson about climbing in and out of windows now.

“I will definitely be giving him a key from now on – I don’t care how many he’s lost.”

Colin Clarke, air ambulance paramedic, said: “We are delighted to hear that Dean is recovering from what must have been a painful and traumatic incident.

“Because we landed in a relatively tight area, it also shows that this service does not just come into its own in the rural areas, it is also there for those who live in urban areas.”