BEXLEYHEATH: Actor left paralysed after Shrewsbury blast (From News Shopper)

BEXLEYHEATH: Actor left paralysed after Shrewsbury blast

11:06am Thursday 11th March 2010 in

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AN ACTOR badly injured when an explosion ripped apart a building which collapsed on him, has been told he will never walk again.

Kiley McDonnell, 33, had been appearing in pantomime in Shrewsbury in January when he was crushed by the rubble from a town centre building.

Mr McDonnell, of Chapel Road, Bexleyheath, is now at the specialist spinal injuries centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire, learning to adapt to life in a wheelchair.

The aftermath of the explosion has devastated the McDonnell family who had travelled to Shrewsbury to watch Mr McDonnell’s performance as Jovial Jake in the panto Pater Pan.

Mr McDonnell’s father Patrick has lost the use of his left arm as a result of the blast and has had to give up his job as a black cab driver, which he has done for more than 30 years.

And his sister Portia, 29, is still undergoing treatment on her injured shoulder.

Ms McDonnell said: “It was the first time we had been to Shrewsbury.”

She and her two children aged seven and five, and Mr McDonnell’s parents had spent the night in the town after watching the panto.

Ms McDonnell explained: “Kiley and I were collecting some of his stuff so he did not have to carry it home on the train after the panto run finished.

“My car wasn’t even supposed to be parked where it was.

“The hotel had asked me to move it, and I parked in the only space left.

“The children were strapped in the car and my parents were standing behind it.

“Kiley and I were about to get in and he stretched out to open the door when the explosion happened.

“I was thrown in one direction away from the collapsing building and he was blown into its path.”

Her mother suffered minor injuries and the children were unhurt.

Altogether 12 people were injured in the blast which was thought to have been caused by a gas leak.

A Health and Safety Executive investigation into the incident has not yet finished.

Ms McDonnell said her brother was now trying to come to terms with his new situation.

She said his parents’ home in Bexleyheath, which he used as a base while he travelled at home and abroad on acting jobs, would have to be adapted to accommodate his wheelchair.

Ms McDonnell said: “His career is finished and he has found it very, very difficult.

“But he is still in good spirits and he has had lots of support.”

Friends he has made during his acting career have rallied round, sending more than 4,000 messages to his Facebook site.

His sister said: “Kiley still hasn’t opened all his e-cards yet.

“The support has been excellent. He has been been very pleased, but upset at the same time.”

She said until he felt more confident in his wheelchair, Mr McDonnell was only accepting family visitors.

Ms McDonnell said: “He is quite a positive person, always cracking jokes, always the funny, cheeky chappie and that is why he makes such an impression on people."

She thanked everyone, including the congregation at St Thomas More, the family’s church in Long Lane, Bexleyheath, for their support.

The family hopes to hold a fundraiser for Mr McDonnell in May.