A talented teenage sportsman has been critically injured after getting crushed inside a school minibus in a freak accident.

Firefighters spent more than an hour rescuing Sam Radford, 18, after he was pinned to his seat by a loose security barrier which had smashed through the front of his minibus.

The sports-mad teen, an academy scholar with Croydon Athletic FC, has been in intensive care unable to breathe unassisted since the incident on January 26.

He was travelling home with team mates after a football match at the Hillingdon Sports and Leisure Complex, in Uxbridge, when the accident happened.

Arsenal fan Sam, from John Ruskin College, south Croydon, has been sedated for almost a week.

The teenager suffered multiple injuries in the accident including broken ribs and a damaged lung.

His mum Alison Radford, from Duppas Hill, Croydon, said it was too early to say whether would be able to continue playing sport.

Sam, who is on an academy programme studying a BTEC in Sports Science with Croydon Athletic FC, was named most improved player in 2008-9.

He has also played rugby for Hove and hockey for Eastbourne and is in the Seaford U18 cricket team in Sussex.

His mum said: “It was a freak accident, a barrier got stuck in the front of the bus. Sam was crushed in the passenger seat. It was quite a dramatic rescue, they had all the emergency services on the scene.”

Doctors were attempting to wake Sam yesterday (Tuesday) to see how he coped with the breathing tube while he was awake.

Mrs Radford, said they did not know what he would be able to do once he recovered.

She said: “He is not going to university, we were in the planning stages of deciding what he was going to do and he had a few good ideas but this has understandably upset those plans.”

She has spent most of the past week at her son’s side and with his father Geoffrey and his older brother Matthew and sister Rebecca and a few close friends.

They have been able to talk to Sam as he slips in and out of consciousness.

She said: “We have had conversations with him with hand signals, giving him a thumbs-up.”

His father spoke of the moment he was told his son had been taken to hospital.

He said: “I had a call from Sam’s coach John Cumberbatch, who was driving the bus, but he did not tell me much. I phoned Alison straight away to tell her what had happened.

“Ten minutes later there was a policeman on my doorstep asking if he could come in and I thought we had lost him.

“The police rushed us up to Paddington under a blue light, which was a bit of a hairy journey. They were really fantastic.

“Sam is a big strong boy and I am sure that will help him recover.”

His mum said: “It is going to be a long slow recovery with a lot of work. His injuries are confined to his chest so his legs are OK.”

She has set up a Facebook page with daily updates on his recovery and said the family had been overwhelmed by messages from friends wishing the popular teenager well.

Karen Muir, from Croydon Athletic, said: “We were devastated to hear about what happened to Sam. We wish him all the best and we hope he makes a full recovery.

“He showed such progress and determination in the last season and his manager Ken Fisher was so pleased by how dedicated he was.”

Tim Eyton-Jones, John Ruskin principal, said: “Sam is an exemplary sports student with excellent attendance and punctuality.

“He is very popular with his peers and the staff in the sports department and the football academy.

“He is currently in his second year of study at the college and has achieved recognition from his peers and managers because of his great attitude.

“He is also a keen and able rugby player and cricketer.

“The college would like to send him very best wishes for a speedy recovery and look forward to his return.”

A friend, Tula Dyer, wrote: “We are all thinking of you and sending healing wishes. Know what a fighter you are Sam – I can picture you running around playing footie with a broken collarbone.”

Hayley Cara Duplessis Grimson wrote: “So glad to hear he’s on the up even if it is taking time. My thoughts and love go out to you all.”