A TEENAGER has been hailed a hero after his quick-thinking saved a 12-year-old boy who was choking on a sweet.

Joseph Rimell was with friends in Nunnery Lane, Darlington, when he saw Alasdair Cunningham staggering towards him, red-faced and gasping for breath.

A sweet had become lodged in the youngster’s throat while he was running during a game of football, leaving him unable to breathe.

Despite never having had any first aid training, 16-yearold Joseph sprang into action and performed the Heimlich manoeuvre. After the third attempt, the sweet was dislodged and his airway cleared.

Joseph, a year 11 pupil at Hummersknott Academy, in Darlington, said: “One of my friends asked a man nearby to call for an ambulance, but I didn’t think he would last long enough for one to come.

I didn’t want to see him die – I had to do something.

“I had heard about the Heimlich manoeuvre on TV and in films and I thought there was no harm in giving it a try.”

Alasdair, a year seven pupil at Carmel College, in Darlington, said he had tried to get the sweet out himself, but instead it lodged itself further down his throat.

He said: “I stuck my hand down my throat and tried to get the sweet out, but it wouldn’t come out.

“I was starting to panic and didn’t know what to do. I went over to a group of lads nearby and one of them just grabbed me from behind and managed to get the sweet out.

“I’m so glad he was there.”

Alasdair’s mother, Fiona Cunningham, a police officer from Darlington, hailed Joseph a hero after the ordeal.

She said: “It doesn’t bear thinking about what might have happened if he hadn’t been there.

“We are so grateful to him and want to thank him for acting so maturely and keeping his cool in what could have been a very serious situation.

He is an absolute hero to us.”

Denise Redfearn, Joseph’s mother, said she was extremely proud of her son’s actions, particularly because of his lack of first aid training.

She said: “He realised the ambulance wouldn’t come in time so he decided to take some action himself – it must have taken a lot of selfconfidence and maturity to do it.”