A TEENAGER whose mum's life was saved by passers-by at a cinema will be taught the same lifesaving skills.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust (YAS) is visiting 89 secondary schools across the county on Friday as part of European Restart a Heart Day to teach cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to more than 20,000 children.

One of those set to benefit from the coaching is 15-year-old Josh Kimberling, of Poppleton, near York, after his mum Caroline was resuscitated by Good Samaritans last year.

Mrs Kimberling, 37, went into cardiac arrest while she was watching the trailers before a film with her sons Zach and Ben.

Zach raised the alarm when his mum became unresponsive and he ran into the lobby of Vue cinema in Clifton Moor, drawing the attention of a nurse and physiotherapist who rushed to her aid.

Wesley Hall, a member of staff trained in First Aid, is credited with saving her life by carrying out resuscitation, then paramedics shocked Caroline's heart back into action on the cinema floor.

Josh, a pupil at Manor Church of England Academy, was not at the cinema, but is eager to do all he can to learn about lifesaving techniques.

He said: "I'm really pleased that my school is taking part in Restart a Heart Day this year, especially after what happened to my mum.

"It’s really important that as many people as possible know how to do CPR; if it hadn’t been for those passers-by who did CPR on my mum when she collapsed, the chances are that she wouldn’t be here today."

YAS held its first mass CPR training event last year as part of the European Resuscitation Council’s Restart a Heart Day when more than 11,000 schoolchildren at 50 schools received CPR training.

Jason Carlyon, resuscitation manager for Yorkshire Ambulance Service, said: "We are incredibly proud of our initiative to teach CPR to more than 20,000 children in one day; it’s going to be an awesome event which will provide our communities with even more people who are equipped with the skills to save a life."

For more information about our initiative to mark Restart a Heart Day, visit www.restartaheart.yas.nhs.uk/