A TEENAGER has been hailed a hero for helping rescue a pensioner trapped in her car after it flipped on its side into a ditch.

It was only by luck Swindon College student Nathan Noble decided to drive a different route home and came across the elderly woman who was injured after crashing near Faringdon.

Emergency services were yet to be on the scene, so without hesitation the 18-year-old sprang into action and grabbed his first aid kit from the boot of his car and went to help another motorist who had also pulled over to try and free the lady to safety.

It is believed the pensioner had blacked out causing her to veer off the road during the collision, which happened a few weeks ago.

“I was one of the first people to see it and I got there and I was thinking I wonder if anyone is in the car and hurt, so I pulled over, put my hazard lights on and got out my first aid kit,” said Nathan, who lives in Stanford in the Vale.

“She thinks she had passed out and the car was sideways and she was suspended in the air.

“I spoke to the other man there who was first aid trained and underneath her. He had climbed through the back of the car and was supporting her from underneath.

“I was talking to him from the back and he said he needed help and so I climbed on top on the car.

“I had to cut her seatbelt off her and get on top of the car, pry open the door because it was destroyed on the hinge. The door was pretty heavy when it was on the side like that and you have to open it.

“I took out my penknife and cut the seatbelt off that was strangling her. I kept the door open so she had air and I waited for the police and fire service to arrive.

“She was just saying thank you but I had to leave before she got out the car.”

The woman was then cut free by firefighters and paramedics took her to the hospital. Nathan has not spoken or heard how the pensioner is since the accident, but his friends, family and the college have singing his praises for helping her.

Nathan, who works at a garage in Faringdon, inbetween studying public services, added: “It was just instinct I looked and saw it and thought I need to make sure she is ok and I’m first aid trained from my time at the Scouts.

“I was nervous because I had never been in a situation like that before,” he added. “But it’s nice to be able to help.”

The student also has aspirations to work as a police officer or firefighter in the future after he finishes his course next year.

His teacher Dawn Greenberg said: “Here at the college we are so proud of Nathan. He put his skills to amazing use and proved how doing a course like public services can be a real life-saver.”