A mother today praised the quick reactions of a window cleaner and a family in helping to save her son's life.

Eternally grateful - Jim and Jana Ramsay. Picture: NIGK OBANK (47644-2)

Just over a week ago, Tom Ramsay's petrol-soaked clothes caught alight when a lighter was ignited. But the injuries to his face, chest, hands and right leg could have been much worse had it not been for window cleaner Barry Osborn smothering the flames.

Also coming to Tom's aid were Paul and Nicola Worth, who were returning with their children from swimming, who cooled his body with their damp towels.

Mum-of-three Jana Ramsay, of Baynards Avenue, Little Dunmow, was at work at Stansted Airport when she got a call from her husband, Jim, telling her their 14-year-old son was injured and had gone to St Andrew's Burns Unit at Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford.

The teenager and his friends were trying to start a dumped car on waste ground and he was carrying a petrol-filled generator when the fuel went down his clothes.

"It's very silly but they were trying to start the generator with a lighter," said Mrs Ramsay.

She hopes Tom will be home in three weeks time but he will have to return over the next few years for skin grafts. He has already had a skin graft on his face.

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Published Wednesday, February 8, 2006

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