A TEENAGE fire cadet gave crucial first aid to a biker who was injured after colliding with a car.

Taylor Endell, 14, was on his way to training at Southend Fire Station when he witnessed the crash in Eastwoodbury Crescent, Eastwood.

The youngster, a student at the Eastwood Academy, in Rayleigh Road, Eastwood, said: “We were travelling down Eastwoodbury Crescent in my mum’s car and I saw the bike come past us.

“A green car pulled out of the entrance to the Holiday Inn. I don’t think they saw each other so the bike had to swerve and the car ended up hitting him dead on, knocking the motorcyclist off.

“The sound was horrible. It made this awful thud noise.”

Taylor, who had only completed his first aid training two weeks earlier, immediately jumped into action.

“I rushed out of my mum’s car and went over to see if I could help. The biker was quite shaken up and just wanted to get his helmet off.

“I told him he had to keep it on because he could have a neck injury from the impact. He was just wearing jeans and a belt and you could see the belt had dug into his skin quite a bit and he was very cut up. It wasn’t nice to see.”

Passers-by called for an ambulance while Taylor took care of the injured man, making sure he stayed calm and didn’t move.

He added: “I was doing the casualty care before the ambulance got there. It was a really big moment. Because I was in my uniform, people were kind of looking to me to see if I could help because I had the badge on. It felt like a moment of responsibility.”

Police turned up ten minutes later and closed off the road before the paramedics arrived.

Taylor said: “They said thanks and I just let them get on with it and left the scene to come to cadet training.”

Taylor trains every Thursday for three hours over the course of 41 weeks and has been going since September.

Lead cadet instructor and fire service watch manager, Mark Crouch, praised the teenager.

He said: “He was really excited to tell us and proud of the help he had been able to deliver. He’s come on leaps and bounds since he started. He used to be really quiet and he’s really matured and got a lot of confidence now. We’re all really proud.”

For Taylor, it confirmed his choice to become a firefighter when he’s older.

He added: “It just came to me and I knew what to do. I’ve always wanted to be a firefighter because it’s a physical job and you get to do something different every day. Now I’ve seen how the skills can help people as well so it’s made me want to do it even more.”

The fire service runs cadet training every year. It’s a 41 week course and teaches vital skills as well as helping cadets achieve their Duke of Edinburgh award.