THIS is the photograph of nine-year-old Ashley Tunstall which no one who witnessed his horror fall at St George's Shopping Centre expected to see.

Ashley suffered just a bump to his head and had to have his wrist reset after falling 25ft from a balcony in the rotunda on Tuesday lunchtime.

Ashley believes he suffered an epileptic fit before slipping over the upper walk balcony and plummeting to the ground.

A 63-year-old pensioner, who was stood below and broke his fall, walked away unscathed.

Paramedics spent more than an hour treating Ashley at the scene before taking him to hospital on a stretcher.

Yesterday Ashley's guardian Lisa Grime revealed how she feared he had died when she was initially told of the accident.

Lisa, of Duke Street, Preston, said: "My sister rang and told me. It would have broken me if he had died. I would have gone with him.

"When I arrived at hospital, he was crying in agony. They had to give him morphine and other painkillers. He kept being sick and had taken a knock to the head.

"I was especially worried because, like me, he suffers from epilepsy." Speaking from his hospital bed, Ashley told the Citizen: "I think I had a fit. I went dizzy and then I couldn't see anything.

"I was leaning on the rail on the balcony when it happened. It was very frightening but I feel better now."

Lisa, who has cared for Ashley since he was a baby, added: "I can't thank the pensioner enough. It was a case of her being in the right place at the right time.

"I would really like to meet her because I owe her such a debt of gratitude."

Carol Lowde, manager of the shopping centre, said she was saddened by the incident, and added that it was the first time this type of accident had happened. She said: "Security staff were on the scene within seconds and were able to raise the alarm and call for an ambulance.

"One of my staff comforted Ashley until the paramedics arrived. He was conscious throughout, but clearly in pain."

Inspector Dawn Copley, of Preston Police, said: "He is a very fortunate lad. Witnesses say he was on the wrong side of the balcony before he fell. It is fortunate for him that this pensioner was passing, because otherwise it would have been a lot worse."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.