BEXHILL HIGH SCHOOLBOY IMPALED ON FENCE SPIKE

Now the young hero who rescued him has received a top award.

Bexhill High School student Laurence Gilbert, 15, reacted immediately when his fellow student speared his arm on a fencepost on the school grounds on June 22.

Unfazed by the gruesome injury, Laurence removed his t-shirt and tightened it around the wounded arm.

He then raised the arm above heart level to avoid further blood loss.

He had learned these life-saving techniques just over a week earlier in the Local Intervention Fire Education course, a first aid and fire safety course at Bexhill Fire Station.

Pupils and staff gathered in the school's assembly hall on Down Road on Monday to applaud the unflappable, quick-thinking student.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer Len Richards presented Laurence with an award for his bravery, and he received a special certificate from the school.

The injured student, aged 13, required 54 stitches, and is now back at school.

But without Laurence's actions, Deputy Chief Fire Officer Richards said the student could have sustained "serious injury or worse".

Recalling the incident, Laurence said: "My friends and I were sitting down there, and he was coming over the fence. He just caught his arm.

"I got the t-shirt, applied pressure and held it above the heart. I was only with him about two minutes. I just did what I'd learned on the fire brigade course.

"It looked very nasty. I didn't like it, but I had to do it. If I hadn't gone on the course I wouldn't have known what to do."

Head of Camber House Pauline Edwards, who has been Laurence's head of house for a year, paid tribute to his calmness under pressure.

She said: "I would like to say how proud I am of him.

'I honestly don't think there are a lot of people who would have had the quick thinking to act, even if they had been trained in what to do in such a situation. For him to keep his cool and do so well is just incredible."

Laurence had picked up his essential training from six firefighters at Bexhill Fire Station, on a course funded by the Safer Rother Partnership.

He was one of 14 Rother students aged 14 to 19 who benefited from the trainee firefighting class, covering fields such as safety, equipment drills and life skills.

Bexhill Fire Station's Station Manager Mani Gilbert was one of the course co-ordinators and was present at the assembly.

She said: "He was a fantastic student on the course. He listened and he learned. He's proved he's taken a lot of skills away from the course, because he's used them.

"I feel he should be incredibly proud, because he's obviously quite confident now. His grandfather talked to me after the assembly, and said being on the course turned him around."

And Laurence's new found knowledge has given him the impetus to aspire to a full-time career saving lives.

He said: "I went onto the course to get out of school. But by the second day, I felt I was getting something out of it. I'm interested in joining the fire service now, because I just enjoy it."