Kian is YouTube lifesaver
A TEENAGER saved his brother’s life after a mountain-biking smash – using tips he had picked up from YouTube videos.
Kian Walton, 15, quickly sprung into action to stem the blood flow from his elder sibling Jake’s wound after watching survival skills videos on the social media site.
The brothers, from Halifax, are polar opposites with Jake, 18, loving adventure and danger and Kian loving nothing more than studying and hours in front of a computer.
But his favourite pastime came in handy when Jake got into trouble while cycling near Ogden Water on July 12 last year.
As they were riding home, the uneven ground caused Jake to lose control of his BMX mountain bike and he was swept over his handlebars. His bike then fell on top of him, with one of the bars puncturing his thigh bone in his right leg.
With blood gushing from his leg and Jake drifting in and out of consciousness, passers-by rushed to the scene as Kian shouted out for help.
They were able to help Kian by wrapping a blanket around Jake to stop him shivering and held his leg up high in an attempt to stem the blood flow.
Kian said: “Jake had told me to be careful when we were coming down the path as the ground was a bit uneven. Then I just saw a cloud of dust in front of me and Jake was lying there on his back.
“Straight away my instinct kicked in. I’ve watched all sorts on YouTube videos but I’m a big fan of educational videos which tell you what to do in challenging situations.
“I can’t believe the tips I picked up actually came in handy.
“I shouted out for anybody to help and then dialled 999 for the air ambulance. While we were making Jake comfortable I spoke to him calmly to make him feel reassured.
“There was so much blood that I was getting really worried, I just kept telling Jake to look at the sky and the clouds and to see the beauty around us.
“Unknown to me at the time, he could have actually died.”
Apprentice car mechanic Jake lost almost three pints of blood – a young lad only has about nine in their entire body.
Jake was rescued by Yorkshire Air Ambulance – who told him he was about 10 minutes away from dying.
Amazingly, they gave him an emergency blood transfusion before transporting him to Leeds General Infirmary, for life-saving surgery.
Jake had three emergency surgeries including a large skin graft from the top of his right leg.
At one point doctors thought they might have had to amputate his leg as they were worried he lost too much blood.
Luckily, this was not the case. After being in intensive care for two days, Jake recuperated on a recovery ward before he was discharged from hospital three-and-ahalf weeks later.
Although now fully recovered, he wears a compression sock which stops his leg from swelling.
The wound, a four-inch gash which sliced the main artery in his leg, has now healed but the scars are a constant reminder of how grateful he is to his little brother and the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.
He said: “I had never seen Kian so calm for a 14-year-old in that situation. He knew what to do because of the YouTube videos he had watched online.”
But, despite saving his brother’s life, modest Kian doesn’t consider himself a hero.
He said: “I just did what any other brother would do.”