A TEN-YEAR-OLD boy who fell awkwardly from a tree and injured his back in remote woodland near York was taken to hospital by RAF helicopter.

Rescuers were called to the privately-owned Great Wood, near Flaxton, when schoolboy David Recchia hurt himself while playing.

David had walked back to his family home in nearby Smith's Lane, but an ambulance was called when he complained of pain and numbness in his neck and back.

The Sand Hutton Primary School pupil was today back with his friends at school after undergoing an evening of tests at York Hospital and being given the all-clear.

His father, Don, 56, who is building an environmentally-friendly holiday site in the wood, complete with solar panels and wind turbines, said the family was still reeling from the sudden chain of events.

He paid tribute to the RAF crew, who landed on a steeply-sloping area "the size of a postage stamp" just yards from a large lake and the family's static caravan home to recover his son.

He said: "I don't know why his injuries seemed so serious. He only fell a metre or so, but he fell awkwardly.

"I hate to say it, but I think my son loved it a little bit as well. But the medical team were absolutely brilliant."

An ambulance crew were called to David's home at about 5.30pm yesterday when his mother Helen feared he may need hospital treatment.

Dozens of people gathered to watch the helicopter land in the grounds of Bootham Park Hospital an hour later.

A spokeswoman for Tees East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service said the RAF helicopter was called in by a ground ambulance crew because of the fear of serious spinal injuries.

She added that the Sea King helicopter crew, of 202 Squadron based at RAF Leconfield, near Beverley, attended instead of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance because their craft had additional night vision equipment.

Updated: 10:38 Wednesday, March 12, 2003