Callum Ellison hailed a hero

Callum Ellison

Callum Ellison, has been hailed a hero after coming to the aid of an injured driver on Bacup Road.

16-year-old Callum, who attends Hopwood Hall College, was walking along the road with a group of friends when he heard screaming and saw that there had been a car crash.

“The driver of one of the cars, a Ford, was screaming and holding her neck - she seemed so distressed”, said Callum. “As soon as I saw what had happened I ran over to help. I remembered my first aid training and something I once saw on TV about neck injuries so I jumped in the back of the car and held her neck really still. I also talked to her constantly to reassure her that help was on its way.”

Once the ambulance arrived, Callum switched roles form first aider to mechanic as he helped the driver of the other car to change his tyre as it had blown from the collision.

Callum’s friends helped out too by push starting the jeep to get it back on the road once the police had taken all the details of the crash.

Callum, who is currently studying catering at the College, thinks that anyone in his position would have done the same thing. But Harriet Herdman, Senior Learning Mentor at Hopwood Hall College, disagrees, saying: “It was very brave of Callum to step in. A lot of people would have been too afraid to help. He is a great role model for other students at the College and should be very proud of his new title, ‘Hopwood hero’.”