Teenager steps in to keep man alive

A Bunbury high school student is being hailed a hero after ‘‘acting on instinct’ to save the life of a man lying unconscious on a Bunbury street.

Picture by Jon Gellweiler: St John Ambulance station manager Chris Wilks congratulates Bunbury teenager Aaron Hart on saving a man’s life on a Bunbury street last week.

Waiting on Stephen Street to be picked up after school last Wednesday, Aaron Hart stepped in to perform CPR on aman for 15 minutes until an ambulance arrived.

The 16-year-old, who has trained as a St John Ambulance Event First Aid Services cadet since he was eight, went to investigate after seeing a crowd gather.

Discovering an unconscious man being helped by people with limited first aid knowledge, his training kicked in.

‘‘My impulse was to see if I could help — I said I had a senior first aid certificate,’’ he said.

‘‘It was just instinct.’’

St John Ambulance station manager Chris Wilks heaped praise on the teenager who, he said, had kept the man alive.

‘‘Aaron really stepped up to the plate,’’ Mr Wilks said.

‘‘He was really competent in what he was doing and gave the person the best possible opportunity for a good outcome.’’

Mr Wilks said he wished more people in the community were as well versed in first aid as the young hero.

‘‘It’s essential — if an ambulance takes more than three or four minutes to get there in a very critical event, time’s ticking away and it makes it much, much more difficult to get a good result.’’