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Girl who rescued injured boy from bonfire acted 'on instinct'

Keiron Tourish and Gerry BradleyBBC News NI
BBC Shows a girl with long fair hair wearing a white shirt, dark tie and dark jacket with a field in the backgroundBBC
Tianna Patterson has been praised for her bravery and quick thinking in rescuing an unconscious boy from a bonfire

The 17-year-old girl who rescued an injured teenage boy from a bonfire said she reacted on instinct.

The boy, also 17, fell into the bonfire in Strabane, County Tyrone, after being knocked unconscious by a punch.

A local councillor, who spoke to his mother, said he had been left with "severe burns" to his face and hands.

Tianna Patterson said she saw him collapse and fall into the fire and her first thought was to try to help.

She had witnessed him being assaulted only moments earlier.

"I just reached for him by the neck and pulled him out of the bonfire," she said.

"I then got a friend's phone and called the emergency services."

The A Level student at Holy Cross College in Strabane said she had been at the bonfire with friends when the incident happened on Saturday night.

Shows a woman with glasses and hair tied up with a pink jacket, standing in front of a field
Tianna's mother Alex says her daughter's quick thinking prevented a tragedy

Her mother Alex praised her actions.

"We are all very proud of her as this could so easily have been a terrible tragedy," she said.

"But thankfully she acted quickly and rescued the young lad and got him help from the emergency services."

Shows a man in a blue coat standing in front of the remnants of a bonfire
Councillor Paul Gallagher at the bonfire where the weekend attack took place

'Destructive'

Independent councillor Paul Gallagher has spoken to the boy's mother and said she is "distraught".

"Young people have gone to the bonfire and in the chaos of it, a young 17-year-old got knocked unconscious, fell onto a fire which at best can be described as white hot," Gallagher told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme.

"I've spoken to his mother who was very distraught, to say the least."

Gallagher said the boy will now require extensive medical care and it will take a long time for him to recover.

"The chaos around a bonfire is madness and it should never have happened that a young boy gets knocked out and put on a fire.

"Bonfires bring very little benefit, they are destructive, they are a serious danger to young people."

The police are stepping up their hunt for the boy's attacker but no arrests have been made.

They have appealed for witnesses to come forward, including anyone who may have captured the attack on their mobile phones.