Pleas for help by teens ignored

A delighted mother has located the two young samaritans who rescued her seriously ill son - but the two teenagers say they could have done with some help from other members of the public.

Andrew Clentworth lay in a ditch near the Manawatu River - possibly for up to four days - after a fall left him injured and unable to move.

The teenagers who saved him say their calls for passers-by to help them were ignored.

Thirteen-year-olds Alex Beattie and Cameron Wrigley found Mr Clentworth, 28, lying dazed and injured next to the river in Palmerston North on December 7. He might have been there since December 3.

The part-time student was injured in a fall and his right knee swelled because of a clotting deficiency in his blood.

The toxins spread and the injury resulted in his right leg being amputated above the knee.

The two Awatapu College students were heading to a swimming hole with two other friends when they stumbled across Mr Clentworth lying beside the Bridle Track. Initially they thought he was dead but then realised he was still alive.

They dragged him away from the rocky edge of the track and asked if he was okay. They then went to a nearby house, got him some water and called an ambulance.

The boys claim their requests for help from other passers-by were ignored at this time.

"Some stopped and looked at us but then kept walking - they probably thought it was little kids pulling a prank," they said.

Mr Clentworth's flatmates were unaware he was missing, thinking that because his cat was also coincidentally absent he had gone away for several days.

Publicity last week led to the young samaritans - who weren't known to the ambulance crew - coming forward so the injured man's mother, Caryl Clentworth, could thank them in person and give them a small reward for probably saving her son's life.

- NZPA