Boy seriously injured in Corbin skate park accident

A nine-year-old Corbin boy was seriously injured Monday afternoon at the Corbin skateboard park and was airlifted to the University of Kentucky Medical Center for treatment.

Witnesses say nine-year-old Robbie Thomas was using the quarter-pipe obstacle at the park at around 4:00 p.m. Monday when he was accidentally knocked over by another boy on Rollerblades. Officials with Knox County EMS confirm Thomas suffered a compound-fracture to his left arm following the accident, but that he was otherwise OK when he was loaded into an Air Methods medical helicopter for the trip to Lexington.

“Robbie is a regular, but the dude on the Rollerblades that ran into him he is never here,” said 14-year-old Dakota Joseph who witnessed the accident. “As soon as the guy dropped in [on the quarter pipe] he hit little Robbie. Robbie fell and snapped his arm.”

A compound fracture is when a bone breaks then pierces the skin and is exposed.

“The guy was probably in his early 20s or something like that,” Joseph said. “I never seen him before.”

Fellow skaters said Thomas was quite accomplished on the skateboard for his age.

The other skater who ran into Thomas fled the scene and has not yet been found by police.

“Whenever the cops came, he like jet out of here,” Joseph said. “I guess he thought he was going to get in trouble or something … get sued or something.”

Joseph’s mother, Melissa Campbell, a Registered Nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital in London, said she comforted Thomas until EMS personnel arrived.