Primark Escalator-fall toddler Evie is taken off critical list

Apr 26 2008 by Liza Williams, Liverpool Daily Post

Primark and Evie

A THREE-YEAR-OLD girl who fell from an escalator in Liverpool’s Primark store has been taken off the critical list, three weeks after the incident.

Evie Parry fell more than 100ft inside the Church Street shop in front of stunned customers on April 4.

She remained in a critical condition at Alder Hey after sustaining multiple injuries until yesterday, when hospital staff said she was improving – the first positive change in her condition since the accident.

A spokesman said the children’s hospital had been flooded with goodwill messages from across the country: “Evie Parry is slowly improving and is now off the critical list.

“Her mother wishes to thank everyone for the cards and kind wishes which we have received from far and wide.”

The investigation into the accident is still ongoing, with Liverpool City Council and the Health and Safety Executive, which is supported by police, working together to establish what happened.

They are focusing on how the little girl managed to fall between a gap in the escalators at the store.

A police spokesman said last night said: “We are supporting Liverpool City Council in this investigation and there is no update as of yet. It still could take some time.”

The store, which at 84,000 sq ft is one of the biggest Primark stores in the UK, closed its doors for the rest of the day after the accident while crime scene investigators and the HSE carried out forensic examinations of the scene.

Evie was with her parents shopping in the store when the accident happened at about 1.30pm. The toddler plunged from the second floor to the lower ground floor at the retail unit.

Evie was initially treated at the Royal Liverpool hospital but then transferred to Alder Hey’s intensive care unit.