Cyclist thanks Hampton School pupils for rescue efforts
8:00am Thursday 27th September 2012 in News By Rachel Bishop
A cyclist has thanked two Hampton School boys for saving his life when they discovered him in the New Forest with serious injuries.
Charlie Harrison and Sean Lonergan were cycling during the summer holidays when they came across an accident that had happened seconds earlier.
Three men had been mountain biking when two of them collided. Charlie and Sean arrived to find one of the men lying in a ditch, not moving and in a serious condition. One of his friends was trying to cradle his head and the other was in shock.
Graham Bowen, head of podiatry at St James’s Hospital in Portsmouth, was hurt, his chest had taken the full impact of the fall and he was in acute pain, suffering from three broken ribs and a punctured lung.
Mr Bowen has now announced that he will be raising money for the air ambulance that airlifted him to safety, but wanted to express his thanks to the two 13 year olds.
Mr Bowen said: “Charlie and Sean showed incredible maturity and calmness in a situation that would have made most boys their age panic.
“Without doubt the boys did help to save my life.”
The boys called an ambulance for Mr Bowen and cleared a way for the air ambulance to land, then waved their coats and fluorescent jackets over their heads to help signal the helicopter down to the ground.
Charlie said: “The man on the floor had obviously been flung a long way over his handle bars. His helmet had smashed and there were pieces scattered six or seven metres behind him. He was mumbling and crying out in pain.”
Sean added: “We were in the forest and the emergency services couldn’t locate us so Charlie and I had to cycle down the bike trails to the nearest signposts and give the operator coordinates.
“They told us they were going to send an air ambulance and asked if we could find a suitable area for the helicopter could land.”
