A 12-year-old boy suffered horrific injuries after falling 30 feet from a derelict building.

Simon Edge slipped on wet roof tiles after being hit on the head by a stone thrown from the ground by a friend.

He tried to break his fall by grabbing a telephone wire but wrenched his right arm so badly the bone was left protruding. As he hit the ground in a rubble-strewn yard he broke his right leg and shattered his right arm, losing an inch of bone.

Speaking from his hospital bed today Simon bravely warned other children against exploring empty buildings. ''They shouldn't go inside them. I will never go in an empty building again,'' said Simon, who is a pupil at Lowry High School.

Simon and a group of friends got into Keswick House, once maisonettes on Cumberland Street, Lower Broughton Salford. Simon said: ''A friend stayed with me after I hit the ground and I remember him saying 'Don't shut your eyes'. He kept talking to me. I was in a lot of pain and didn't move.''

Simon's mother Joan, from Jessamine Avenue, Lower Broughton said: ''It will be some time before we know whether he will make a full recovery. He had never climbed onto that roof before, but other kids in the area have done frequently. A petition is being launched to get the building pulled down.''

Fire crews and paramedics treated Simon at the scene and gave him oxygen for more than 30 minutes before he was taken to hospital. He is now recovering at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital in Pendlebury.

The Irwell Valley Housing Association, which owns the building, said it had been made secure since the accident.

Tweet