Couple raise awareness over glass concerns in Rhyl after broken bottle leads to severe injury

Jack Bennett, 20, who lives in Tamworth in Staffordshire and his partner Beatrice Davies, 19, of Atherstone in Warwickshire, were in Rhyl on the Friday, August 23 for the bank holiday weekend.

Beatrice and Jack went for a drink in the town, stopping in Wetherspoons, Tiki then Cirque. On leaving Cirque at 1.30am, and walking towards the sea front, Jack stumbled and fell to the pavement.

The couple believe a broken bottle was on the floor, where his right arm landed.

Fortunately, an ex-serviceman - who was passing by - assisted the couple to bind the wound.

Beatrice called her parents Robert and Nicola in hysterics.

The wound

Robert and Nicola came to collect Beatrice and Jack and took them to Glan Clwyd Hospital.

Jack was told he had been lucky the blood loss was stemmed and he had not severed an artery.

Beatrice, a customer sales advisor apprentice with Bunzl, said: “Jack was walking towards the front of the street, down Water Street. We were just past Cirque when he fell face forward.

"As Jack has been drinking prior to the incident, he didn’t realise at first what he had done. He stood up and then felt the pain throbbing in his wrist.

"He immediately took his t-shirt off to tie around the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

“I looked at the wound and saw the severity of it and tied his t-shirt around his wrist tighter due to the excessive bleeding.

“I immediately called an ambulance as we were both very worried and Jack was struggling to move his fingers due to the tendon damage we weren’t yet aware of. It wasn’t until after that I noticed the amount of glass on the floor and I realised that was what had caused the wound.”

The serviceman who helped the couple remains a stranger.

Jack and Beatrice were enjoying a night out

“He was very kind to sit and wait with us,” Beatrice said.

“As two young people who hadn’t experienced something like this before, it meant more than he knew. He was kind enough to sit and wait with us both and calm us the best he could.

“He gave great advice on stopping the bleeding and how to keep the wound as clean as possible.”

Beatrice and Jack waited about an hour for an ambulance before Beatrice called her parents. They arrived at Glan Clwyd Hospital at 2.30am.

“Jack was very scared and in a lot of pain by this point,” Beatrice added.

“Not only because of the pain but the worry of not being able to feel several of his fingers.

“I tried to keep positive for him. I was extremely upset but did the best I could to keep him talking, warm and his wound tightly covered. Even minutes felt like forever but the scariest part was seeing Jack so distraught."

Jack in A&E

Jack, who sustained the injury to his right wrist, has three months of recovery before he can return to his career as an apprentice electrician.

He spent seven hours in A&E and then another nine hours in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham.

He had a five hour operation.

He is now recovering at home and cannot return to work for 12 weeks.

Beatrice and Jack are raising awareness about the incident in the hope people take away their mess or inform a nearby store or bar if a bottle or glass is dropped, so it can be tidied away.

Beatrice said: “A drunken fall, which I know is common within young people, has turned into an issue for Jack’s career as he may never regain feeling in parts of his hand again.

"No matter what teens go out drinking excessively, however the government need to ensure they are able to do so in a safe environment.

“We both enjoy going out in Rhyl, the people are friendly and the bars are lively, however we are both put off drinking in the town again due to the amount of glass left laying around and the danger we now see it poses.”

Robert, Beatrice’s father, said: “We were woken up by a phone call at 2.30am. Anybody with teenage children knows a call in the night creates dread that something terrible has happened.

“We found Bea and Jack waiting on the Coast Road near the Savoy hotel.

"Jack was topless with his arm wrapped by his shirt, body and jeans covered in blood.

“Myself and Nicola made a circuit around the Town Hall, Water Street, Sussex Street, Queen Street and down to the promenade on the Saturday and Sunday. We could see splashes of blood on the pavement near to Cirque, and the pavement opposite Tiki Bar.

"On the main road there was a broken bottles with shards on the base on the corner of Sussex Street, and numerous broken bottles at the corner of Water Street near the entrance of the empty Albert pub.

“As Nicola commented, it was more a case of where could we not find glass," Robert added. 

"In Sussex Lane, just off the main road there was more broken glass including a smashed mirror propped against the wall. Beatrice had described walking from Cirque Bar towards the sea front when Jack fell – we couldn’t see any glass walking this way, but there were signs of stains where water had been flushed across the pavement.

“Walking along the promenade we were also shocked to see bottles on the beach near SC2. Thankfully, we noted council workers moving along the prom clearing this mess.

“Broken bottle injuries are so avoidable. Please take away your mess, or in the event of an accident with a dropped bottle, inform the nearby store or bar who I am sure will bring a dustpan.

“We love to visit Rhyl, where I lived until 1988, and where my mother continues to live on the East Promenade.

"The town has seen some great updates along the promenade and residential streets behind the East Parade, with exciting prospects for the Queens area of the town centre. Next time we visit, you can bet we will be on the lookout for debris around the town that lets down local people and visitors alike.”

A spokesman for Denbighshire County Council said: “The Council takes cleanliness and safety extremely seriously, and we undertake comprehensive street cleaning operations in Rhyl from 6am to 6pm during the summer months.

“Unfortunately, it appears that this incident occurred during the early hours of the morning, outside of our operating hours.  Our out of hours team received no reports of broken glass in this area that evening, and therefore any glass would have been cleared the following morning.”