A CALM cadet who raised the alarm when a friend was having a seizure has been praised.
18-year-old Jamie O'Hare, a former Cumbria Police cadet, received a certificate of merit for his actions dealing with a life-threatening during a practice weekend for a Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) gold award.
On the trip, he woke up one morning to find his Chetwynde School friend and fellow cadet Harvey-Jo Cunningham having a seizure.
According to Harvey-Jo's father Graeme, Jamie 'calmly' responded to the situation and told the cadet leader what was going on.
Graeme said: "They were completing a hike. Harvey-Jo had a seizure in his tent in the morning. Apparently, lack of sleep is a trigger. He had a brain injury from birth which we only found out when we were investigating his epilepsy.
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"He is fine now he has changed his medication.
"Jamie was brilliant. He didn't panic when he found Harvey-Jo having a seizure. He found the police cadet leader. We are very appreciative. I don't know if he put him in the recovery position."
Graeme described Jamie's award as 'much deserved.' He continued: "A lot of kids would have panicked in that situation, he kept a really calm head. We thanked his dad."
Graeme said that Harvey-Jo is hoping to meet him at BAE as Harvey-Jo is doing work experience there and Jamie has been taken on as an apprentice.
Harvey-Jo completed his gold DofE, in the end, a few months later. Graeme said: "He couldn't go ahead with the expedition. He was a little bit shocked but he probably would have gone on.
"He went to the Peak District and finished it off, he did 120 kilometres in six days."
Jamie said: "I have been a police cadet since the age of 13. Police cadets have put me through the DofE awards which allowed me to achieve the Gold Award last year.
“This, along with other skills they have taught me, has increased my confidence to be able to recognise something was wrong with another cadet and take action to help them, whilst raising the alarm to get further assistance.
“Although not expected, it was really nice to receive this award to recognise my actions."
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