Richard Allford 1827 loss of legs (General)

by Mike Pinchin , Bedford, England, Thursday, August 18, 2016, 22:35 (3019 days ago) @ Wens

Here’s the incident and what preceded it,

Gloucestershire Chronicle - Saturday 21 August 1841

Coleford-— A melancholy accident occurred yesterday morning week, to a son of Mr. John Allford, Staunton Lane, near Coleford. The youth was on his way to the Grammar school at Newland and, on his way thither, fell in with some trams loaded with lime and coals, on the Forest of Dean and Monmouth railway, and incautiously placed himself on the shafts for a ride. When opposite the house of Mr. John Watts, of Whitecliff, by some means he had the misfortune to fall from his situation on the rails and, melancholy to relate, the wheels of the trams passed over his thigh, just above the knee, and literally crushed it to pieces. The poor boy was conveyed home, when immediate amputation was found necessary. He bore the operation with uncommon fortitude, and is likely to do well. What makes the case the more deplorable is, the poor fellow lost his right leg three years previous to the sad accident which deprived him of his left, from the effects of a white swelling; the operation took place at the Gloucester Infirmary. He was a remarkably smart, active boy, noted for the agility of his movements with no other assistance than a single crutch.