A sixth-former at an East London Catholic school proved the heroine of the hour when she recently used newly acquired first aid skills to save a baby’s life. Naa Kai Laryea, 16, who is studying four A-levels at Bishop Challoner Catholic Collegiate School in Tower Hamlets, had just returned from school and was walking near her home in Hackney on October 31. The next moment, a distraught mother rushed out of her house and into the street carrying her baby, who was not breathing. Solicitor Gianna Gudsell was screaming frantically, holding her 14-month-old son, Hector, who was limp and unconscious. The 35-year old mother had been washing Hector in the bath when he slipped and hit his head. Naa Kai took control of the situation, held Hector and set about reviving him using the first aid skills gained at her local church only a month before. Naa Kai, having completed a St John’s Ambulance course, knew to pat Hector’s back as he seemed to be choking. Her action worked, as the baby was then sick and began breathing again. “Because I knew what to do I wasn’t scared,” said Naa Kai. “He was freezing cold, but then his heart started beating really fast. I was calm, but even calmer when I heard his heart beat. He was still really pale and I was trying to keep him conscious until the ambulance came. I was talking to him, tickling him and moving him around a lot.” The ambulance arrived shortly afterwards, and after treatment at the Homerton Hospital he is now back at home. Naa Kai is studying English, Philosophy and Ethics, Media and Textiles at Bishop Challoner. Her story appeared in the Evening Standard and the website London24 named her Londoner of the Day.