Apartment fall boy's local hero

Ben Shirkey saved the life of a school boy from Kings College after a massive fall. Photo / Herald on Sunday

A good Samaritan who went to the aid of a King's College student who fell from a 16th storey apartment has told of his amazement that the boy survived.

The 15-year-old boy survived the fall after landing on a steel roof.

Aircraft engineer Ben Shirkey said he heard a "massive bang" after the boy fell from the top floor of the Proximity Apartments in Manukau 10 days ago.

The 30-year-old found the student bleeding from a gaping wound to the leg.

He said: "There was masses of blood everywhere and I held on to his leg while the blood was gushing out. Then a guy came down in his pyjamas who had a scarf on so I grabbed that and put a tourniquet on it because the leg was bleeding a lot.

"I am just so pleased he is alive ... once I knew he was moving I just knew I had to stop the bleeding.

"I spent 10 years in the airforce and you go through a first aid refresher course every year which are core skills so I covered a lot of that."

The student was admitted to Middlemore Hospital with a broken wrist, rib and internal injuries. His fall was broken by the roof of the apartment car park, which was lined with yellow insulation and wire mesh.

Shirkey said the student, who has been released from hospital, was a "very lucky, lucky boy".

The boy's family has moved out of the apartment.

He is expected to return to school in the next few weeks.