Blue tube that saved our holiday

It could happen to any footballer. While my son wasn't about to go off and play in the World Cup, we

After the tears and the ambulance and a restless night at the Royal London Hospital, there came an even bigger trauma. "What about our holiday? I won't be able to swim," Louis sobbed, waving an arm firmly wrapped in plaster.

We were more concerned about flying. Your body swells on a plane and a limb trapped in plaster can get excruciatingly painful. Fortunately, there was just enough time to return to the hospital to get a split put in the plaster, which is done with an alarming-looking circular saw that, thankfully, only tickles. The arm was then bandaged again for our week away. It is important to check with your airline about its policy on flying in plaster - on the two-hour hop to Olbia, it was not considered a problem.

By chance, the senior orthopaedic officer at the Royal London had given us a leaflet while we waited in the plaster room. It advertised the miraculous XeroSox, a tube of bright-blue plastic which is stretched over a plastered limb then sucked tight by squeezing an internal pump. Everything is kept dry, and swimming becomes possible. I immediately ordered one, which arrived the day before we left. It was too small. Try as we might, Louis couldn't get his arm into the tube without howling with pain. I became very unpopular, and we headed to Stansted with gloomy faces. "It's not my fault," Louis wailed. "It was a rotten tackle."

In the baking heat of the Costa Smeralda we lounged by the pool watching other children gleefully splashing about. Louis sat with a towel over his head, like a tennis star in crisis. "The water's lovely and cool!" yelled his big sister, showing no mercy. Yes, this really was the worst holiday ever.

"Let's give it one more go," I suggested. It seems we did have the right size and had simply been too precious with The Blue Thing, as the XeroSox became known. Made from latex, it needed real wrenching to make a sleeve into which Louis's arm could be dropped. Once it was on and pumped up, Louis found he could swim to his heart's content. So thank you, Mr Ram Persad and the thoughtful staff of the Royal London, for saving our holiday.

? XeroSox can be ordered from Footman (0161 633 5333), priced from £22, including p&p.

The late escape