Brave youngsters rewarded

The nation's leading first aid charity has honoured thirteen brave young people on Saturday 30 May at its annual Young First Aider of the Year Awards.

The ceremony celebrates the courage of young people who have put their first aid training into action in exceptional circumstances.

This year there are 13 deserving winners including:

• Raul, who was first on the scene when a woman was trapped underneath a car
• Keeley, who at just six saved her dad's life when he slipped into unconsciousness because of diabetes
• Louise, who performed CPR on her grandmother
• Lorin, who took control when a friend was showered with shattering glass and bleeding heavily
• Kyle and Leon, who dived into a rough sea to rescue two girls trapped by rocks

  These young people should be extremely proud of their achievements.

  Roger Chatterton

  St John Ambulance Chief Commander

• Brandon, who saved his mum's life after finding her unconscious on the floor
• Lucie, who showed real courage when resuscitating her father
• Lucas, who knew just what to do when he found his mum unconscious
• Sean, who saved his dad's life after a heart attack
• Rachel, who performed CPR twice in a matter of months
• George, who treated a bus full of people after it crashed
• Dennis, who resuscitated a man who other passersby were simply ignoring.

St John Ambulance’s Chief Commander, Roger Chatterton, commented: ‘These young people should be extremely proud of their achievements. They are proof that first aid is an invaluable life skill, and their bravery and quick-thinking is a credit to them. Nearly 7 out of 10 school children we surveyed said they wouldn’t know how to perform first aid in an emergency. We’re working to change that, and these amazing stories are a reminder of why learning first aid is so important’.

Steven Blakeley, who stars as PC Geoff Younger on ITV’s Heartbeat and was a Cadet at St John Ambulance, presented the awards.

He said: ‘Everyone here today proves that you are never too young to learn first aid. It’s fantastic that St John Ambulance is recognising the achievements of young people in this way, and hearing so many of these dramatic stories has been really inspiring. We all like to think we’d know what to do in an emergency, but I’m not sure most people could have acted as courageously and efficiently as these young first aiders did’.

The winners will be presented with their awards at a ceremony at St John Ambulance’s historic headquarters in Clerkenwell, London.

If you'd like to nominate someone for next year's awards, find out how.