Four black teens; two of them Nigerians, praised for helping injured elderly woman

A grandmother who passed out after slipping on ice has met the four teenagers who helped her.

Gabrielle Adegoke, Kyron Onireti, Charles Hamadi and Tyrese Attefuah-Appau were walking along Green Street, Upton Park, when they saw the woman fall outside Tesco.

The 15-year-olds immediately rushed to help her, with two staying to comfort her until the ambulance arrived and the others running ahead to St Bonaventure’s School as they didn’t want to get in trouble for being late.

A week later, on February 1, Zenaida Cabrera – whose grandson is also a student at the Boleyn Road, Forest Gate school – came to thank the boys in person. She said:

"I really hit my head hard when I fell and passed out. I am really grateful they stayed with me until the ambulance arrived. I am still in a lot of pain but felt I had to come and meet the boys who had helped me."

She gave the boys a card and a cheque for £50, which headteacher Paul Halliwell said he would use to treat them to a meal at Nandos. They also received a blessed set of rosary beads from Jerusalem.

Mr Halliwell said: "Many people would have walked by and not stopped to help and these boys were concerned about being late for school but they still went to her assistance which is admirable. Teenagers sometimes get a bad press but these 15-year-olds showed kindness."