A TEENAGER tried in vain to save the life of a dying man in a railway station waiting room.
Harry Poole, 15, suddenly found himself called upon to help after the man collapsed at Redruth railway station.
Paramedics arrived but the 49-year-old man from St Austell, who has not yet been named, later died.
Harry, from Redruth and a pupil at Richard Lander School in Truro, was waiting for his father to pick him up when the man fell on the floor unconscious.
Harry called an ambulance and was asked to help resuscitate the man.
He said: "The paramedic was there before the ambulance came and he was working with the defibrillator. I had to press on his chest and try to keep it all going.
"It was the first time I had done anything like that. It was scary at first but I just wanted to help."
Harry had never undertaken first aid training but is now considering taking a course.
The man collapsed in the waiting room shortly after 6pm on February 21.
Harry said he had been shocked by the incident and his thoughts were with the man's family.
Bravery
He said: "It happened so fast and was so unexpected. I was quite shaken."
Jim Beech, Harry's tutor at Richard Lander, said: "It is an amazing act of confidence and bravery to attempt to save a life and we are all really proud of Harry."
A spokesman for South Western Ambulance Service Trust said it could not give details of the care given in a specific case but added: "In certain circumstances members of the public may be asked to carry out basic life support until such time as paramedics arrive at the scene.
"The trust recognises how early intervention may dramatically improve a patient's prospects and is grateful to those prepared to help."
A spokesman for British Transport Police (BTP) confirmed they received a report of a man collapsing in the waiting room at 6.10pm.
The spokesman said: "An ambulance crew attended and gave the man, aged 49 and from St Austell, first aid at the scene before taking him to Treliske Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
"There are no suspicious circumstances. BTP officers will assist in the preparation of a file for the coroner."
First Great Western wrote to Harry to express its gratitude for his public-spirited action and enclosed a first-class return ticket to a destination of his choice in the UK.
