11-year-old St John Ambulance cadet comes to rescue of skateboarder

An 11-year-old from Somerset showed that you are never too young to practise first aid after coming to the rescue of a skateboarder with a broken leg.

Patrick Woods, who lives in Wells, was visiting family in Minehead when the incident happened during  a visit to a skatepark in Watchet last month.

After realising that the teenager had been injured, Patrick, who was at the park with his brother Harry and grandmother Rosemary, swung into action as his training kicked in.

First aid knowledge proves decisive

As the only first aider on the scene, he did an initial assessment and realising that the boy’s leg was broken, he stabilised it to prevent further injury and called for an ambulance.

Patrick, who was the only person with first aid training to come forward to help, monitored the skateboarder’s condition until paramedics from the South West Ambulance Service Trust arrived to take the injured boy to hospital.

Patrick, who attends The Blue School in Wells, has been involved in St John Ambulance since he was five-years-old, joining the charity as one of its Badgers. He then moved up to the City of Wells Cadet Unit when he was 10.

During that time, he has been trained in first aid as well as other skills such as communication and teamwork.

His dad Gerard, who is Commissioner Operations for St John Ambulance in Somerset, is now calling on other young people to follow Patrick’s example and sign up to learn life saving first aid skills.

He said: ‘I am very proud of Patrick and what he did. It goes to show that you never know where and when you may need to use first aid.

‘Unfortunately not enough people know first aid – up to 150,000 people a year die in situations where first aid could have given them a chance to live. But 58% of people say they wouldn’t know what to do if faced with a situation like Patrick was. I would love to see more young people and adults follow his example and learn the skills that can be the difference between a life lost and a life saved.’

Patrick said: ‘I enjoy being a St. John Cadet and it was good to be able to use my First Aid skills to help someone who was in so much pain.  I feel everyone should learn First Aid regardless of their age as it’s a great skill that everyone should have’.

The family do not know what happened to the skateboarder and are keen to find out how he is doing.

For information about becoming a Cadet (age 10 to 18) or Badger (aged 5 to 10) with Somerset St John Ambulance plase contact 01287 726740