The Darlington student who became a lifesaver aged 16

 AS Forrest Gump once said while talking to strangers at a bus stop: Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get…

It’s a famous quote from an Oscar-winning film – and a perfect fit for a North Yorkshire family whose story is an inspiration to anyone facing adversity.

Despite a history of chronic ill health, Ben and Vicky Ellis have built an award-winning business from the kitchen of their North Yorkshire home, creating chocolates that are not only delicious but good for you.

And, at the heart of their sweet success, is their son, Sam, who has grown up as a young carer from the age of three, leading to him becoming a lifesaver at 16.

“I call him my angel on earth – I wouldn’t be here without him,” says his proud mum, who was given three years to live by doctors six years ago.

In June, Sam was named Young Citizen of the Year in a ceremony to celebrate volunteering and good citizenship among students at Darlington’s Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College.

Sam Ellis receives his Citizen of the Year award from Vice Lord-Lieutenant Michael Poole at Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College (Image: Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College)

The honour was in recognition of Sam’s quick-thinking actions in helping to save the life of a cyclist who had suffered a cardiac arrest. It transpires that was only part of the story – one chocolate in the box – though it remains a good place to start…

Sam was on his way home on his motorbike after a short family break in the Peak District when he came across a man who had collapsed while riding his bicycle and was unconscious.

Sam Ellis on the motorbike he was riding when he came to the rescue (Image: Peter Barron)

Sam – a sergeant in Northallerton Air Cadets, with ambitions to be an RAF pilot – checked if the man was breathing and started CPR while someone else called 999.

Alongside a dental nurse who arrived at the scene, Sam carried on CPR for more than an hour.  A defibrillator supplied by a motorist was also used before the patient was flown by air ambulance to hospital.

A few weeks later, after his phone number had been passed on by the police, Sam had a call from the man, thanking him for saving his life.

“He was called Nigel and it was such a relief just to hear his voice – it brought it all home,” says Sam, who has also been nominated for a Royal Humane Society award. “I didn’t think I’d done anything special because I’m so used to being a carer. I just knew what to do – it was normal.”

Indeed, Sam’s experience as a young carer goes back as long as he can remember.

His mum had suffered a severe brain injury in a car accident when she was just 18 months old. That led to young age onset epilepsy, including ‘petit mal seizures’, which began when Sam was three and Vicky was trying to cope as a single mother.

“Despite being only three, he could recognise the seizures and whisper in my ear that I’d be okay,” Vicky recalls. “He knew how to get the neighbour or to phone an ambulance. He was always incredible and that was the start of him being a young carer.”

After Vicky moved from Kent to Ripon when Sam was five, she was in another car accident which caused whiplash to the brain and led to a major stroke and multiple mini strokes.

A few months after the main stroke, she was diagnosed with skin cancer which required reconstructive surgery on her face. 

Then, in 2020, she was diagnosed with a slow-growing brain tumour called a meningioma, which required radiation. It is now stable but being monitored every six months.

A young carer can’t be officially recognised before the age of seven but, throughout Vicky’s multiple illnesses, Sam helped care for her, including preparing meals, and taking her to the toilet. It was only when he joined the Young Carers Society when he was nine that he finally started getting some emotional support.

Vicky, who spent the first four years of Sam’s life on her own, met her husband, Ben, in 2014 and they married a year later. Originally from Stockton, he was working as Head Pastry Chef at the Royal Hospital Chelsea before they got together and moved to North Yorkshire.

Ben, who also has a range of health issues, adopted Sam, and the family was completed when Ben and Vicky gave Sam a little brother, Joseph, seven years ago.

After Joseph was born, the couple decided to take the plunge and launch their own chocolate business from the family home, in Leeming Bar. 

Ben Ellis Pastry Chef and Chocolatier produces healthy, low-calorie chocolates free from allergens, gluten, oil, cream, butter, eggs, added sugars, or artificial additives.

Instead, the main ingredients are water, fresh fruit juices, fresh herbs, natural purees, and Ben’s magic touch.

A sample of chocolates from the family business (Image: Peter Barron)

“After everything we’ve been through, we wanted to transform the chocolate industry by producing luxury chocolates that are not only delicious but focused on well-being,” says Vicky.

And she’s quick to acknowledge Sam’s importance to the business, which exports chocolate internationally as well as selling at shows and corporate events.

“He’s been integral,” she says. “He’s not just working hard on his studies but coming home, looking after our wellbeing when we’re struggling health-wise, and then spending hours in the evening helping out with the packaging, distribution, and organising business functions.”

The family effort is paying dividends because the business has won several recent awards. The highlight was a Global Recognition Award earlier this year “for transforming the confectionery sector via innovation that addresses critical worldwide wellness concerns while maintaining outstanding standards of leadership and service”.

Key customers include Warburtons and Lloyd Motor Group, and Ben and Vicky went to the Cannes Film Festival last year to create chocolate sculptures for VIP guests of the Magnum ice cream company.

“We believe in what we’re doing and the aim is to keep growing the business by getting our chocolates into hotels, restaurants and more regular outlets,” says Ben.

“It’s hasn’t been easy, but we’ve got here through a lot of hard work and pulling together as a family,” adds Vicky.

You may never know what you’re gonna get – but the Ellis family is certainly making the most of life’s challenges. 

• To find out more about the family business, go to: www.benellischocolatier.co.uk