Young first aider of the Year award winners 2009

Lorin Adams - St John Ambulance Cadet
Age 11

Lorin was playing with friends one summer evening when a water balloon came crashing through the window. The glass shattered everywhere showering Lorin’s friend Lauren with splinters and shards of glass. The glass had cut Lauren’s neck and she was smothered in blood, her feet squelching in pools of blood on the floor. Lorin’s mum tried in vain to stem the flow of blood from the worst neck wound with tissue paper, but to no avail, and was beginning to panic when Lorin came into the bathroom with a sterile dressing and held it onto Lauren’s neck.

He told his mum not to wipe Lauren’s face, which was dripping in blood, as there might still be shards of glass embedded there. Lorin took control of the situation and told his mother to drive to the hospital whilst he kept applying pressure to the wound. Lauren had no glass left in her face but did have to have stitches in her neck. Thankfully she wasn’t scarred and now tells all her friends how Lorin saved her life.

Leon Fairley - Army Cadet Force
Aged 15 and Kyle Greenwood aged 16

Leon and his friend, Kyle, were on the beach in Tynemouth, having been for a swim in the sea, when suddenly they heard lots of screaming from further up the beach. They looked across and noticed that two young girls were in the sea and obviously in a great deal of distress.

Cousins Emma Paxton (10) and Sophie Brown (11) had been playing and swimming when they had become trapped on rocks by the rough sea and had tried to swim back to the shore. Unbeknown to the boys, Emma had got her foot stuck in the rocks and was trapped.

Without thought for their own safety, both boys dived into the sea to rescue the girls.  Kyle swam towards Emma, who was the furthest out, as he’d just passed his life saving course and Leon swam to rescue Sophie and bring her to the shore. She was very distressed, on the point of drowning and was coughing and hyperventilating.

Leon sat Sophie down on the beach and began to check her airway to make sure she hadn’t swallowed anything, and did what he could to stem the bleeding from the cuts to her legs. Sophie’s aunt arrived on the scene but was so panicked and hysterical that Leon had to calm her down and reassure that the girls would be okay.

Meanwhile, Kyle was still in the sea struggling to rescue Emma. Leon dived back in to assist both of them and bring them back to the shore. Emma had sustained the same injuries as Sophie so Leon administered first aid to her accordingly and then proceeded to help Kyle, who was by now exhausted. When the ambulance arrived the crew thanked them for their efforts.

Brandon Flanighan
Aged 12

Brandon’s mother Jacqueline had spent the night downstairs in the family home after having a painful operation on her foot. She awoke about 6am and was walking to the kitchen when she passed out and hit her head on the floor. Her husband was at work and she was found by her daughter, lying in a pool of blood with a wound to the head. Her daughter, Lara, called for Brandon who calmly put his mother in the recovery position, raising her legs and talking to her as she drifted in and out of consciousness. He also applied pressure to the head wound with a clean tea towel and instructed his sister to summon help. Brandon kept talking to his mum until the ambulance crew arrived and then gave them a detailed verbal handover.

Jacqueline said 'If it was not for Brandon, who knows if I would even be here? There was a lot of blood and it was a very scary situation, and yet my son transformed into this calm young man, talking to me and acting as if he were a trained doctor. Thank goodness he attended the St John Ambulance first aid course in school before Christmas. Without Brandon it could have been much worse.'

Lucie Frezza - Army Cadet Force
Aged 15

Lucie was at home with her siblings and parents. Her dad had been having some discomfort in his chest throughout the night but believed it to be indigestion so went to bed as normal. He awoke during the night and told his wife that he was still feeling unwell, he then suddenly collapsed onto the bed and when Lucie’s mum turned on the lights she could see that he was foaming at the mouth. 

Lucie’s mother screamed to her son for help to put her husband in the recovery position and phoned for an ambulance. Lucie then entered the room and said that she didn’t think her father was breathing and placed him on his back.  She checked his airway and cleaned out foam from his mouth. She then started CPR. Her and her mother took it in turns to administer CPR while talking to the ambulance crew. When the paramedics arrived Lucie stayed in the room with them and held the drip they had inserted into her dad’s arm and explained to them what had happened.

Lucie did a brilliant job in a terrible situation, unfortunately her father Marcello passed away a few days later.

Lucas Jebb - St John Ambulance Cadet
Aged 10

Lucas put his first aid training into practice at home when his mum fainted in the kitchen and hit her head. On hearing a crash Lucas went to see what had happened. He found his mum lying unconscious on the floor. As she started to come round she could hear Lucas giving instructions to his older brother to fetch the first aid kit, a chair and a blanket. Lucas told his mum to lie still and placed a cold compress on her head. He then raised her feet, put a blanket around her and checked to see if she was hurt anywhere else.  Lucas kept talking to his mum to make sure she stayed awake. She insisted she would be okay and would not need to go to hospital so Lucas asked his brother to phone a family friend to come to the house to check on mum for them as their dad was working abroad at the time. 

Lucas told his mum that she was to try not to fall asleep and if she did he would wake her every ten minutes, which he did. Lucas’s mum said that she was so proud of Lucas and how calm he was throughout the situation.

Sean Osgood
Aged 16

Having undertaken his examination for his St John Ambulance young first aider course during the day, Sean unexpectedly had to put his skills into practice that same evening. Sean and his mother were at home when they heard a loud bang from upstairs. They both knew that Sean’s father was subject to fainting fits so ran up to find him on the floor of the bathroom, his neck at an angle due to the fall against the side of the bath.

Sean, on checking, found that his father was not breathing and began to administer first aid and resuscitation with chest compressions. He noticed that his father had vomited, so instead of doing two life breaths, Sean put his father on his side and started hitting him hard with the palm of his hand in between the shoulder blades. Sean then told his mother what to do while he called for the ambulance. Sean remained calm and continued to look after his father until the paramedics arrived. 

The ambulance crew attending told Sean he had saved his father’s life by the actions he had undertaken.

Louise Owen Clarke - St John Ambulance Cadet
Aged 13

Louise and her family were staying at her Nanna’s for the Christmas holiday. Nanna was 85 years old and had been having some difficulty breathing. On this particular day, Louise had been helping her Nanna to move about using her walker when she suddenly turned and collapsed into a chair. Louise held her Nanna’s hand and spoke to her and tried to wake her up. Louise’s Mum telephoned the GP and rang 999. At the time Louise’s Dad was out but was minutes away from home. 

The 999 operator helped to guide Louise and her mum through the CPR procedure and Louise stayed very calm throughout. When Louise’s Dad arrived home he took over from Louise and they worked alongside the two first responders who, by now, had arrived.  Louise’s Nanna was taken to hospital but sadly passed away. Louise was praised by the paramedics and doctors for all her efforts.

Keeley Pearson
Age 6

Keeley was at home with her father when, after forgetting to take his insulin, he slipped into unconsciousness. At home alone with her father Keeley realised that he needed help and dialled 999.

She was on the phone for a total of eight minutes calmly advising the ambulance control assistant where she lived, giving their full address, her father’s name and age as well as details about his condition. She told them that he suffered from diabetes and that he had not taken his insulin.

In addition to this she tried to make him eat something, knowing that it might make him better. Keeley remained remarkably calm throughout the entire call, looking out for the ambulance crew and opening the door to direct them to where her father was.

She also made reference to letting her mother know about what had happened explaining that she was currently at work. The ambulance service staff were extremely impressed with Keeley’s mature attitude and knowledge of her father’s condition.

Raul Tomas - St John Ambulance Cadet
Aged 16

Raul was at college in one of his lessons when he heard squealing of tyres and the sound of a collision on the road outside the classroom. He looked out of the window and saw that two cars had collided head-on and that it appeared that a lady had been trapped between one of the cars and wall.

With the permission of his tutor, who knew that he was a St John Ambulance Cadet, Raul left the class and attended the accident. He was first on the scene and immediately took charge with the assistance of college staff helping to control the flow of traffic.

He could see that the lady was lying between one of the cars and the roadside wall, her chest was against the front of the car and her left arm trapped underneath. He administered first aid, in particular supporting her head and comforting her from a lying position. When the police and paramedics arrived they wanted to move the cars but Raul advised against it as he could see from lying on the ground that the lady’s arm was very close to the tyre and it could injure her more if the car was moved. They decided to log-roll her on to a spinal board and then took her to the hospital where she had sustained multiple fractures to her shoulder, hip, wrist and ankle.

Rachel Tresman - Army Cadet Force
Aged 15

Most people don’t have to administer first aid at all in their lives, but Rachel had to do it twice within a matter of months. On the first occasion she was being driven to school by her father in icy conditions when she saw a man lying on the road. The man had been riding his moped and had collided with a car. Rachel asked her father to stop their car so she could attend the scene. There were some adults present but they seemed to be uncertain of what actions to take so Rachel informed them that she was a first aider and took control of the situation. She asked bystanders to move away and requested blankets and head support. She discovered that an ambulance had been called so she secured the casualty’s legs by strapping the feet together. She talked to and reassured the casualty and then briefed the paramedics when they arrived. She then continued on her journey to school.

A few months later Rachel was at lunch with her grandparents when her 84 year old grandfather went ashen-grey and lost consciousness. Rachel immediately took command directing her brothers to carry their grandfather and lie him down in the next room, and her mother to call the emergency services. She then cleared his airway and established that there was no response and no breathing. Rachel relayed this to the ambulance control via her mother. Rachel was preparing to commence CPR when her grandfather gave a loud sigh and his leg moved. Rachel then started to tell him to breathe and, when respiration had returned to normal, placed him in the recovery position and waited for the paramedics to arrive.

George Want
Aged 17

George was travelling on a bus when it crashed. After recovering from the initial shock, he telephoned the emergency services. George then surveyed the situation and decided that it was safe for him to stay on the bus and administer first aid. First he dealt with a man who had a freely bleeding cut to the back of his head, he applied pressure and then directed another passenger on how to continue the treatment. George then went to help a young girl whose legs were trapped and whose arm was broken. He made sure she could support her broken arm and as she was extremely upset and agitated he reassured her and kept her as calm as possible.

Once the emergency services arrived, George informed them of the casualties situation and exited the bus so that they had room to carry out their work. Once off the bus George continued to look after the passengers that were not too seriously injured keeping everyone calm until they went to hospital.

Dennis Whyte - St John Ambulance Cadet
Aged 16

It is unusual for anyone to have to perform CPR in their St John career, but Dennis Whyte found himself doing so on two occasions. One afternoon Dennis was riding his bike when he noticed an elderly man lying on his back on the pavement. A passer-by was already there and told Dennis that an ambulance had been called, but then left the scene refusing to stay. Dennis checked the casualty and found him to be unresponsive but breathing, so he placed him into the recovery position and covered him with his jacket. After a while he noticed that the man wasn’t breathing, so he repositioned him onto his back and began CPR, the ambulance arrived at that moment and assisted the gentleman who regained consciousness whilst in their care.

On the second occasion Dennis was with his family at a social function.  During the evening an elderly gentleman collapsed outside the club. Dennis was the first to arrive on scene, he remained calm and checked him over for his response, airway and breathing. He found that the man had stopped breathing, so he asked for an ambulance to be called and then commenced CPR. Dennis’s father, who is an Emergency Medical Technician but was off duty at the time, arrived at the scene to help. Dennis and his father then worked as a team until a rapid response car arrived. Dennis continued CPR while the ambulance crew set up their equipment and he was asked to continue with the rescue breaths. Dennis was commended by the ambulance crew for his calm and professional manner but despite all their efforts, sadly the gentleman passed away.