Barmouth footballer impaled on church post
A footballer is in hospital after impaling himself on a steel fence post while retrieving a ball.
Barmouth striker Bobby Griffith, 23, was leaning over the steel railings of the old church hall, in the Gwynedd town, when he became impaled.
An air ambulance landed on the town's football pitch and airlifted him to Shrewsbury Royal Infirmary.
Mr Griffith, a volunteer lifeboatman, is in a "comfortable" condition, the hospital said.
A spokesman for the Wales Ambulance Service said: "The patient was flown to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital suffering from two puncture wounds to the chest."
There are hundreds of get-well messages on the footballer's Facebook site.
His brother Daniel Griffith states on Facebook that Bobby had undergone an operation on a punctured lung and that doctors were considering a further CT scan.
Barmouth Football Club chairman Will Huntley said: "I have heard from several local people that the emergency services were excellent and attended at the scene within minutes.are travelling to Shrewsbury to visit him."
"Everyone is wishing Bobby a full and speedy recovery," he said.
Mr Griffith is not thought to have been playing a match for Barmouth FC at the time of the incident.
A spokeswoman for the RNLI said: "Bobby Griffith is a valued member of the Barmouth RNLI lifeboat crew.
"The RNLI volunteers and staff would like to send our best wishes to Bobby and his family and hope for a speedy recovery."