THESE schoolboys stepped in to save the life of a man who other passers-by wrongly assumed had been drinking.

Through The Bolton News, 66-year-old David Blomley got to say thank-you in person to the five Little Lever School teenagers for their quick actions in getting him help and to hospital, where he spent two weeks recovering from perforated stomach ulcer.

It was the end of August when recently-retired Mr Blomley collapsed in agony at a bus stop in Church Street, Little Lever. He had earlier been at the local working men’s club but left early not feeling well but fell to the floor in pain, and vomited, as he was waiting to go home to Radcliffe.

At least one person refused to help, but fortunately, 15-year-olds Cayon Williams, Jobe Oldham, Marcus Morrison, Logan Jackson and 14-year old Joe Kirkham, returning from football practice heard his shouts for help and rushed to help him and called an ambulance.

They were reunited with Mr Blomley, who has just recently been discharged as a outpatient from Royal Bolton Hospital, and described his treatment as exceptional.

Mr Blomley, who is recovering well following an emergency operation, said: “The boys were just brilliant, absolutely fantastic.

“They deserve some recognition.

“I could have died, a burst ulcer is serious. I was in the operating theatre the next morning after being taken to hospital.

“I just collapsed in agony, I was screaming help, I was in so much pain.

“It was 9.30pm and if they hadn’t come by I don’t know what would have happened, because at that time there just would not have been anyone around.

“They were fantastic. They waited with me until the ambulance arrived.

Mr Blomley spent three days in intensive care, and a further 10 days in hospital recovering.

After coming out of hospital, Mr Blomley launched an appeal to trace the schoolboys with the help of the North West Ambulance Service.

The students said they were pleased to meet him especially as he was doing so well.

Joe said: “We saw a man on the floor and agreed we should go over to help him.

“He seemed in a bad way, so we focused on keeping him calm.

“One of the lads called for an ambulance and the rest of us kept him updated and just kept talking to him. It was a bit of a shock to see and other people walked on by, but we stayed with him to help him.

“At the time, we were unsure as to what the issue was, but to hear the details and to know that he was recovering was amazing.

“There were a lot of older people who didn’t stop to help or stayed briefly before walking off. As far as we were concerned, this was a fellow human in pain.

“Who knows what the outcome would have been if we hadn’t stopped to help.”

Jobe and Cayon said: “People told us to walk off saying he was drunk.”

Logan and Marcus said: “We were very worried about him, we talked to him and got him to talk to us.

“It is really good to see he is doing well.”

Headteacher Dominic Mckeon said: “The whole school is extremely proud of the boys. It was an incredible act of kindness. Even when the boys were discouraged from helping, they showed leadership, initiative, resilience and ultimately, they wanted to help someone in need."