Charley, 12, saves life of tot hit by bike (From Essex County Standard)

Charley, 12, saves life of tot hit by bike

5:00pm Tuesday 18th September 2012 in News

First aid trained – Gilberd School pupil Charley Moore, 12

A QUICK-THINKING schoolgirl has told how she gave first aid to a toddler after he was hit by a bike and stopped breathing.

Charley Moore, 12, of New Town , Colchester, was walking home from school when she saw the tot get run over by a cyclist on the pavement.

He collapsed and stopped breathing.

Charley told the boy’s mother to phone for an ambulance and gave the boy CPR.

The Gilberd School pupil has appealed for the boy’s mum to get in touch so she can be assured he is OK.

She said: “I was walking down Ipswich Road and I had just left my friend. “I was near the chip shop and Waitrose, and there was a little boy with his mum and she had a pushchair with a girl in it.

“He got hit by a bike. He fell down to the ground and the lady was really panicking.

“I said to her ‘ring the ambulance and I will sort it out’.”

Charley said the boy’s chest was not rising and falling and when she put her ear to his face she could not feel any breath.

She said: “I did CPR to get him breathing again. “It felt like I was doing it for a minute or so.

“His mum came off the phone and I told her he had started breathing again and she said thank you.

“It was maybe five minutes before the ambulance came. Whoever was driving said to me ‘well done’.” The boy and his family where taken to Colchester General Hospital so Charley said she did not get the chance to ask his name.

She added: “I would love to know if he is all right.”

Charley learnt basic first aid on a one-day course at Highwoods Community Primary School.

Headteacher Nigel Hookway said he was delighted she put it to use when the drama unfolded, on Thursday at 5.30pm. He said: “One of our pledges is to train the children to become young first aiders with St John Ambulance by the time they leave school.

“Our school motto is learning for life. “I am absolutely delighted, because if all the money we have invested saves just one life, it is all worth it.”

Charley’s mum, Jade Berry, 29, added: “I am so proud. “She is not an average 12-year-old. She has got her head screwed on.”

If you know who the boy or who his mother was, call the Gazette on 01206 508288.