A TEENAGER who saved a fellow student from a life-threatening seizure has received two awards for his quick-thinking actions.

Seventeen-year-old Lewis Knight rushed to help the young woman when she collapsed on her way to sixth form college in Durham City.

Lewis, a Cadet Colour Serjeant, with Durham Army Cadet Force, is a first aider and said his training just "kicked in".

He said: “There was a girl lying at the bottom of the staircase, having a seizure with her friend holding her head.

“I went into autopilot mode from my training and rushed down to help her.

“I went through the motions of making sure she was comfortable and moved her legs, which were hitting off the railings.

“I took my hoodie off immediately to place underneath her head because she was on a concrete floor.”

The drama unfolded in the Gates Shopping Centre on the morning of October 3.

Lewis said: “After five minutes she was still convulsing. There was a security guard there, but he had just frozen so I told him to call an ambulance.

“It took 30 minutes and she was still having a seizure, lapsing in and out of consciousness.

“I was speaking to an operator on the 999 call and started compressions. They were off and on, because as soon as I started her breathing would come back and then die off, so I could never get a full compression cycle.

“When the paramedics came up the stairs I had a defibrillator out with the pads ready to use. They took over and shot off to hospital, so I just went to sixth form.”

Lewis, who has been an army cadet for five years, is studying for A-levels and a BTEC at Durham Sixth Form College, and hopes to join the RAF.

He said: “It did not hit me until the next day when I realised I was involved something quite significant. Immediately afterwards I could barely remember anything. It just came back to me slowly.

“A switch had just flicked in my head, you know what you have got to get done and you go into it.”

Lewis is now set to receive a Royal Humane Society resuscitation certificate and has been the presented with the 4th Infantry Bridge Commander’s Coin.

A citation, written by his training officer, 2nd Lieutenant William Oliver, said: “His actions have been used as an exemplar by his College Leadership Team in teaching other students how to deal with similar situations.”

The Royal Humane Society Award follows a recommendation from the Army Cadet Force and a presentation is expected to take place in the near future.

Lewis, who lives in Kip, Hill, Stanley, said: “I did not expect one award, let alone two.

“I just told my detachment commander that I had used my first aid skills and they put forward for them.

“It means what they teaching is actually coming into use.”