TEACHERS and support staff who came to the rescue of a pupil when he collapsed during a lesson have been lauded with praise.

Teachers Katrina Fairbairn and Shona Jagger along with medical officer Erica Melsom and first aider Sue Igoe saved the life of 15-year-old pupil Alex Cowes when he stopped breathing during games.

The Fulford School youngster was attended to by the staff, who worked together to carry out CPR and used a defibrillator to shock his heart back into action.

Alex survived the scare and has since sat 14 GCSE exams, remarkably starting some just four days after having a cardioverter defibrillator implanted in his chest to monitor the organ.

They have all been nominated in the Teacher of the Year category in the 2015 Community Pride awards.

Dan Bodey, deputy headteacher at the Fulford Gate school, nominated the foursome.

He said: "I would like to stress that we are making this nomination as these staff members performed as a team to give the highest gift possible – the saving of a life.

"They performed incredibly effectively in a highly demanding situation following their instincts and training phenomenally well.

"Alex was able to sit GCSE lessons just a couple of weeks after the incident and is joining our sixth form in September.

"To see him enjoying the school prom was an amazing experience – and reinforced the amazing contribution of this team.”

Terry Rawcliffe, a Yorkshire Ambulance Services paramedic who attended the scene and took Alex to hospital, said the staff had done an amazing job and that the odds of survival in such a situation was as low as eight per cent.

He stressed the young student had benefitted from an outstanding team response from the staff and that the outcome could have been very different.

The incident came shortly after the school took part in Restart a Heart day in October where the staff and students were taught how to carry out CPR. And a year after Alex met footballer Fabrice Muamba who has the same condition as him and collapsed on the pitch while playing for Bolton Wanderers against Tottenham Hotspur in 2012.

The awards are run in partnership with City of York Council and the primary sponsor is Benenden.

All Community Pride nominees must live in, or contribute to life in, the City of York Council area.

About three finalists from each category will be invited to the awards ceremony at York Racecourse in October, when the winners will be revealed.

You can make a nomination online by visiting yorkpress.co.uk/communitypride.

Entries must be submitted by Friday, July 17.