The father of seven-year-old Luke Micallef, who fell a height of five metres at Chadwick Lakes on Sunday and is fighting for his life, is calling for the fencing of the dangerous spot to ensure nobody else gets hurt.
“I don’t want other parents to pass through the same trauma. You cannot understand what it feels like to look down and see your child spread out and not responding when, two seconds earlier, you were talking to him; when you look in your child’s eyes and see he is not seeing you,” Robert Micallef said as he paced the corridors of Mater Dei Hospital.
“The accident could have been avoided had there been some form of low fence. After all, the area is usually full of children...
Unfortunately, in Malta, someone has to get hurt for something to be done.”
Luke suffered serious head injuries after falling headfirst onto a pile of rocks when he was frightened by a chihuahua.
“My son is used to being with animals. We have a German Shepherd called Simba... The dog has not eaten since the accident... Luke is a normal child who swims and cycles.
He was scared when the chihuahua approached him. We all know they are small dogs that can be a bit aggressive but children get scared,” Mr Micallef said.
He explained that, on Sunday, he and his family went to Chadwick Lakes to enjoy the gorgeous afternoon. Their three-year-old son, Matthew, was also with them.
“I had just looked to see that Luke was not near the edge. Then I looked away for a second andnext thing I heard was my wife, Katrin, scream... I called the emergency number and ran to the edge and saw him down there. It was a difficult spot to get to... Had he fallen a few metres to the left or right it would not have been as bad,” the distraught father recalled.
Although he did not witness the accident, Mr Micallef believes his son must have walked backwards to get away from the dog that was on a leash but still had freedom to move.
The boy then tripped over a low wall, about one course high, and fell into the dry watercourse.
Mr Micallef believes that had there not been the low wall his son would have probably not fallen headfirst.
Earlier this week, Civil Protection Department director Patrick Murgo said this was an unfortunate incident in terms of safety.
Having a higher wall or railing around the edge of the watercourse could have helped. But, he said, the reality was the authorities could not wall up everywhere in Malta.
Mr Micallef thinks otherwise:
“It’s easy to say Malta can’t be all walled up but it’s a whole different story when you see blood pouring out of your son’s mouth and nose and see him throw up blood.”
He praised the “amazing team work” of the CPD and the paramedics who worked together to bring up his son and take him to hospital.
The owner of the chihuahua was very concerned and even visited the boy in hospital but the family knew it was not her fault, Mr Micallef said.