'˜My twin brother and my friends saved my life' - Portsmouth youngster says he could have drowned without help

Twins Joshua and Aaron Spaven were out for a bike ride along Tipner shoreline on Monday afternoon when Aaron fell off his bike and grazed his hands and knees.

Aaron, 13, who has learning difficulties, went to wash his hands in the nearby water but slipped in.

Quick-thinking Joshua rushed to help as his brother’s head kept going under water – and shouted for nearby pals to help.

The youngsters, Sam Ward, Bradley Willmett, were walking dogs nearby when they rushed to the rescue. They all formed a human chain and pulled Trafalgar School Year 8 pupil Aaron to safety.

Joshua said: ‘Aaron’s head kept on going under, so I said ‘one of you grab hold of my hood and then the other one grab the other’s hood’ and we all made a chain and managed to pull him out.

‘I was worried I was going to lose my brother.’

The boys, who all became friends at nursery, phoned pals James Humpleby and Kai Renault to help get Aaron home.

Sam, 12, said: ‘I had the idea to give Aaron my coat so he could take off his wet jumper and not get cold.

‘I am so proud of all my friends and myself for saving Aaron’s life.’

James added: ‘It was a really scary situation and it could have been a lot worse if we had not have all pulled together to help him.’

Aaron said: ‘I thought I might drown but I am proud of my brother and my friends for saving me.’

Mum Tracy, of Gruneisen Road, Stamshaw, added: ‘I’m so proud of those boys for what they did as it could have been a completely different story if they weren’t there.

‘They really pulled together and helped in a situation that could have been different, and I am chuffed to bits for all of them.’

The group had phoned Tracy to tell her what happened. She went round to her neighbour – James’ mother Jane Humpleby’s house – to tell her.

Jane said: ‘We both could not really believe it at first and I gave her a big hug and then we both got a bit emotional thinking about what might have been, but also because we were so proud of all the boys.’

Aaron has special needs that prevent him from being as independent as his friends, his mum said.

Tracy added: ‘Aaron has got depletion of chromosome 16 which affects his movement. He has hyper-mobility and learning difficulties so he is not able to come out on his own, whereas everybody else in the group of lads can, so Aaron needs to be supervised quite a bit.’

Speaking about when she got the call, Tracy said: ‘I was absolutely mortified.’

The mothers of all the teenagers told The News how proud they were of their children.

Sam’s mother, Demi, said: ‘It is so nice to know they would all save each other and we are all bursting with pride that they knew what to do in that situation.’

Kai’s mother, Karen Make, said: ‘It is so important to raise awareness of the dangers of water. Luckily our boys knew what to do but it could have easily been so different.’