A BECCLES youngster has put his first aid skills to crucial use after saving his older brother from a life-threatening situation.Craig Goddard, 10, a member of Beccles St John Ambulance Badgers, rushed to the aid of his 18-year-old sibling Ian when he collapsed at the beach during a family trip.

A BECCLES youngster has put his first aid skills to crucial use after saving his older brother from a life-threatening situation.

Craig Goddard, 10, a member of Beccles St John Ambulance Badgers, rushed to the aid of his 18-year-old sibling Ian when he collapsed at the beach during a family trip.

And Ian believes that without the calm efficiency of his brother he could have died.

The lads, pictured, were at Covehithe beach, near Wrentham, earlier this month with their mother Ellie Goddard, her boyfriend and their grandmother, when Ian went into severe shock. It is thought he suffered either a hypothermic reaction from too much time in the cold sea or an allergic reaction to tomatoes which may have been in his pasta lunch.

Ian explained: “Me and Craig had been swimming for about an hour when it came over all misty. We both went up to where mum and everybody was sitting and I started to get dry. I put my shirt on and mum noticed I had a rash all over my legs and on my arms, with white raised bits. I said, 'that'll clear up,' but then the hearing in my right ear went and I felt funny.

“I tried to walk to the car and I collapsed. My eyes went funny and I tried to stand up again and I went straight down again.”

As his mother called the ambulance, Craig went into action. Remembering his work with the St John Badgers, he covered Ian with a quilt and packed it around him with stones. He told Ian to put his hands in his armpits and cross his legs to keep himself warm.

He told his mother's boyfriend to get blankets from the car and then lay on top of his brother to keep him warm.

“It was only when the ambulance people took over that he started to think about himself. He did the job of an adult,” said Mrs Goddard.

The boys' father Ron Goddard, a former lay instructor with St John's Ambulance, said: “Craig had got in there and started the treatment. All the paramedics had to do was monitor the situation. A lot of adults would have panicked and not known what to do.”

Craig, a pupil at Beccles Middle School said: “I just tried to keep calm. I wasn't scared, I just take it as it comes. I just felt relieved when it was all over. I couldn't do it everyday.”

“Words can't really describe how grateful I am to him,” added Ian.