Teenagers praised for helping paramedics in woodland drama

Two groups of schoolchildren have been praised for helping emergency services rescue a man with a broken leg from a woodland ditch.

Karl Ireland, 47, was in Kett's Park, Wymondham, with his six-year-old son when he slipped and broke his leg in two places on the afternoon of Friday, October 19.

He was found by a group of Wymondham High Academy boys in year eight, Thomas Gray, Ethan Ellis, Toby Miles, Louis Armstrong Brown, and Aaron Parish, all from Wymondham.

Rachael Ireland, wife of Mr Ireland, from Barnham Broom, said: 'Karl is just really sleepy and in a lot of pain right now. He's had a plate and pins put in two bones in his leg.

'They had gone for an adventure walk in the woods. My son had got stuck on a branch and he tried to help him and slipped. He crawled for more than half an hour to get to a more accessible place for the ambulance, and he also called my parents who came to pick up our son. They said the kids were so helpful and really did themselves proud.'

Pupil Ethan, of Harts Farm Road, said: 'We were in the woods and came onto the walkway and there was a man lying on the floor face down so we asked him if there was an ambulance coming. Two of us went to find the ambulance and get them as close as we could and three stayed with him.'

Thomas's mum Jacqui Gray, of Norwich Road, said: 'The woodland area is hard to navigate and the boys know the woods really well. We get so much negativity about teenagers but they are a really good bunch of kids. I think they are all chuffed they did a good deed.'

A second group of year eight and nine pupils, Caitlin Stannard, Shaun Gedge, Ashton Purewal and Will Bailey, also from Wymondham, then helped clear the path of logs and brambles back through the woods, after paramedics were forced to call the fire brigade to transport Mr Ireland through the thicket.

Caitlin, of Tortishell Way, said: 'We went to the kids park and saw blue lights, so we asked if they wanted help and they said they were good but we waited and asked again and they said yes. The man was relaxed but in lots of pain and the emergency services were really nice. They told us what to do and how to keep safe.'

Kelly Barker, mum of Caitlin, said: 'I think it's so important to show that actually not all high school kids are bad. It's so easy to give teenagers a bad press but they're not all hooligans riding around on their bikes.'