Good Samaritan student Ella praised for helping pensioner who had fallen in the street

New City College student Ella Payne sprung into action when she witnessed an elderly man have a fall in the street.

Ella, 17, who is studying Business at the Epping Forest campus in Loughton, was on her lunch break and walking along nearby Debden Broadway, when she saw the 74-year-old man lying injured on the ground.

She said: “I ran over to him because he looked to be in a bad way and I could see that his ring had cut into and injured his finger. I helped him up and started giving him First Aid, which I had learnt from a course I had taken at college.

“As I helped him walk to sit down at a café, the teacher who led the First Aid course at college happened to come along, but she said I was doing such a good job, she let me carry on.”

Ella asked the café owners for tea towels and water and held the man’s hand up in the air while she rang for an ambulance and waited for the man’s wife to arrive.

She added: “He was quite shaken up and confused. He’d knocked some teeth out and was upset, so I wanted to make sure he was all right. He told me he was on his way to get the bus home and suddenly fell.”

Ella fortunately remembered the skills she had been taught on the all-day Emergency First Aid course that she’d volunteered to attend at college.

The course was taught by Mitus Castillo, the college’s Senior Coordinator for Personal Development, Welfare and Enrichment. Mitus said: “We were so proud of Ella. For her to help a stranger and have the confidence to give First Aid treatment, is amazing. It was even more amazing to hear her say that she used what she had learned at the college’s First Aid course.”

Kieran Amos, Assistant Coordinator for Personal Development, Welfare and Enrichment, who was walking with Mitus at the time, added: “Ella was very decisive and confident in helping the man. We were so impressed with her actions and the care and kindness she showed to him.

“There are a lot of positives about our students’ behaviour and this was definitely one of them! Mitus was delighted to see Ella using the knowledge she had gained from the Enrichment Emergency First Aid course that she had taught.”

Deputy Principal Sue Clark said everyone at the college was proud of Ella and she would be receiving an award to recognise her superb citizenship.