A quick-thinking first aider saved the life of a student, and now the mother of the lucky man wants more young people to get trained.

Ben Mitchell, from East Sheen, who studies at Bath Spa University, was on a night out with friends to celebrate the end of his exams when he suffered a head injury.

The 20-year-old student slipped and plunged down a slope towards a 12ft wall and landed on his head.

Fellow student, Alex Stephenson, 19, rushed to his aid.

Miss Stephenson learned first aid skills as part of her induction to become one of the university's Freshers Angels and help new students settle in to life away from home.

Describing the incident, which happened in January, Miss Stephenson said: "He was gurgling blood from his mouth so I knew I had to get him in the recovery position.

"The friend he was with was calling an ambulance but didn’t know what else to do. I can’t cope with blood which makes me feel dizzy so I told his friend how to put Ben in the recovery position."

Mr Mitchell was in a medically-induced coma for a week and was discharged from hospital after four weeks, but lost the sight in one eye.

The second year mechanical engineering student has also been told it could be between six to 12 months before he regained 100 per cent of his cognitive skills, such as memory and focus.

Now, Mr Mitchell's mother, Sue, called on more young people to learn first aid skills and is supporting St John Ambulance's campaign to get every pupil in the country to learn life-saving emergency medical skills.

Ms Mitchell said: "Alex is certainly my angel and I have no doubt Ben may well have died if she hadn’t known how to put him in the recovery position to clear his airway.

"I’ve never really thought about it before but it’s made me realise that all young people, especially sixth formers and freshers, should learn first aid so they can cope with any emergencies as they go out into the world."

Mrs Mitchell has contacted schools in the borough to urge them to provide emergency first aid training, including by taking part in St John Ambulance's Big First Aid Lesson on June 12.

Len Bamber, regional director of London St John Ambulance, said: "Ben and Alex’s story is a perfect example of why every young person needs to be equipped with the basic first aid skills needed to save a life.

"A medical emergency can happen to anyone, any time, anywhere - and it’s a tragedy that many lives are lost needlessly each year because of a lack of basic first aid training."

To register for the Big First Aid Lesson, visit sja.org.uk/bigfirstaidlesson.