THE victim of a vicious street beating was last night reunited with the woman who stepped in to stop the attack – and thanked her for saving his life.

Jason Waters met 22-yearold Aimee Yule for the first time since she bravely intervened to stop two drunken yobs who were punching and stamping on him in broad daylight in Darlington town centre.

Ms Yule stopped the attack then put Mr Waters, who was bleeding heavily, in the recovery position to stop him choking on the blood in his mouth.

Mr Waters, 22, visited the scene of the attack in Northgate last night to thank Ms Yule, who works as a controller at 1AB taxis.

He said: “I just cannot thank her enough. She has saved my life. I’ve ordered her some flowers, but that’s not enough. How do you say thanks to somebody who has saved your life?

“I can’t remember anything about the incident. All I remember is going to 1AB on Northgate for a taxi and that’s about it.” Mr Waters, whose nose was broken and hand and foot fractured in the July 27 attack, said he was not even aware of Ms Yule’s actions until he read about the incident in The Northern Echo on Friday.

Her bravery was praised by Teesside Crown Court Judge Howard Crowson, who jailed Mr Waters’ attackers, Simon Taylor, 31, of Peabody Street, Darlington, and Ryan Piggford, 28, of Greenbank Road, Darlington, for four years and eight months after they admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent.

Last night, Mr Waters’ mother, Frances, echoed the judge’s words, and said: “It’s because of that girl that I haven’t had to bury my son.

She is the reason I am sitting with him today. She deserves a medal for what she has done.

“The lads who were doing this showed absolutely no signs of stopping until she intervened.

My son is angry and upset by what has happened, but at least he lives to tell the tale. That’s the most important thing. He can thank Aimee for that.”

Ms Yule has been inundated with messages of support since The Northern Echo published CCTV footage of the attack which highlighted her bravery, and calls have been made for her to be honoured for her public-spirited intervention.

She said: “It’s been crazy since the article first appeared in The Northern Echo. I’ve been in all the national newspapers and on television. I have even appeared in an Indian newspaper.

“The support I have had has been amazing. People have been stopping me in the street and thanking me. I’ve even had an email from Kenya. The man said that I have done the UK proud.

“I didn’t ask for any of this.

All I cared about was Jason’s safety. I didn’t care about the two lads, I wasn’t bothered about them hitting me. I just wanted to get them away.”