A PAIR of teenagers drew on their army cadet training when they came to the rescue of a pensioner who had collapsed in the street.

Simon English, 15, from Darlington, and his friend 17-year-old Luke Wood, from Spennymoor, reacted quickly and used their first aid training to put the injured man was into the recovery position and wait with him until an ambulance arrived.

The teenagers, who are members of the Hummersknott and Spennymoor detachments of the army cadet force, said their training immediately took over and they knew they had to help the pensioner when he collapsed on Sunday afternoon outside Tesco in the Cornmill Centre.

“We were just outside the shop when we heard a loud thud and turned around to see the man laid on the floor,” said Simon, who attends Wyvern Academy in Darlington. “At first we weren’t sure what was happening but then our training took over and we knew we had to do something.

“When we first saw the gentleman we weren’t sure what had happened to him but then we noticed the gash on his head and he saying things that didn’t really make sense. We put him in the recovery position and made sure that his airways were clear.”

While waiting for the ambulance to arrive, they continued to look after pensioner and tried to ask him questions to see how conscious he was.

Luke, who is studying IT at New College Durham, added: “The man seemed really disorientated and we couldn’t really understand what he was talking about so we knew we had to call an ambulance and get him to hospital as quickly as we could.

“While we were waiting for it to arrive, we gave him a drink and tried to make sure he was as comfortable as possible. It just shows how important learning first aid can be in a situation like that.”

Once the ambulance took the pensioner, who they learnt was called David, to hospital Simon tried to visit the him later on Sunday to make sure he was okay.

Simon’s father, also called Simon, said: “I was so proud that he stepped in to make sure the old man was looked after until an ambulance arrived – he acted with great maturity.”

And Luke’s mother, Claire, praised her son’s quick thinking and actions, saying: “I would recommend everyone learns first aid as it is so important in times like this.”