A six-year-old boy was given first aid by a teenager before being airlifted to hospital with head injuries after a fall from groynes at The Naze, Walton.

Vincent Saunders was out with his brothers and grandfather when he fell almost 16 feet to the shingly sand, causing lacerations to the top of his head.

The drama began at just before 11am yesterday when Sue Hunt and her two sons Chris, 14, and Patrick, 11, of Bedford Road, Holland-on-Sea, were out for a seafront walk.

Mrs Hunt said: "We were just walking along when the injured boy's older brother came running and said 'Can you help, can you help, my brother's fallen'.

"I had my mobile but I couldn't get a signal so I had to keep running up and down the cliff to get one."

Chris put the first aid skills he had learned at Colchester Royal Grammar School to the test as he was first to reach Vincent, who was lying on the ground while his shocked grandfather looked on.

He said: "I got there just before mum and I just sat down next to him and asked him what happened. He was crying and I put my jacket over him to keep him warm. I looked at his pupils to see if he was going unconscious and talked to him."

Patrick, a Clacton County High School pupil, acted as a runner, relaying information between Chris and Mrs Hunt.

Vincent, a holidaymaker, was taken to Colchester General Hospital and discharged after treatment.

Hero - Chris Hunt

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