Hero pupil helps OAP in distress (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Hero pupil helps OAP in distress

A TEENAGER who ran to the aid of an unconscious pensioner just hours before an important exam said he acted on instinct.

Graham O'Donoghue, 17, was driving to Kingdown Community School in Warminster when he saw an elderly lady slumped at a bus stop and pulled over.

After finding she was only semi-conscious he told a passer-by to call for an ambulance before making the woman comfortable until the emergency services arrived.

The teenager, who sat an AS level history exam just two hours after the incident last Wednesday, said: "I saw this figure at the bus stop that was lying on the floor.

"Everyone was driving past and I thought I would check it out and see if it was a homeless person or not. She had woken up and was looking a bit dazed, so I went back to my car to get my bag to cushion her head."

Despite the circumstances, he said he was not fazed and thinks others faced with the same situation would have responded similarly.

"I'm a scout so it came as second nature with all the first aid," he said. "I thought it was the best thing to do at the time. I was a bit surprised it happened to me, but it seemed the right thing to do.

"I would like to think I get on with people quite well so when the opportunity to help someone comes along I'm going to take it."

His actions were praised by his schoolteachers.

Head of sixth form Susan Whitehead-Whiting said he had been an excellent role model for the school, and plans to recount his experiences, using the Biblical story of the Good Samaritan, in an assembly next week.

"Teenagers get a bad press and it's not true on the whole. The majority of them would act like Graham.

"We would want them to look out for each other. One of the things we say at Kingdown is to show a caring attitude," she said.

After returning to school Graham, who is studying English literature, general studies, history and theatre studies in the sixth form, had to compose himself before stepping into the exam room.

"Once I had sat down and studied for a bit I got back into the swing of things. It's not every day something like that happens," he said.