Boy, 5, escapes hanging after quick-thinking schoolgirls save his life

Sam Marsden, five, was slowly being hanged by the 8ft-high swing in woods near his home. He had been lifted off his feet as he slipped down the banking and as he struggled, the line wound tighter around his neck.

Gasping for breath and turning blue, he managed to scream loud enough for the girls, Jennifer Nuttall, 10, and Atlanta Linning, 11, to hear and race to the rescue.

Atlanta took his weight by lifting his body up as Jennifer untangled the line.  The friends, from Darcy Lever, Bolton, Greater Manchester, then carried him home.  Sam's mum Lesley Williams, 40, said he would have died without their intervention.

Jennifer Nuttall,10, and Atlanta Linning, 11, saved 5-year-old Sam Marsden's life after a rope swing got tangled round his neck

She said: 'Sam was nearly hanged. He was choking with his feet off the ground and I dread to think about if the girls had not been there.

'He simply would have died. No question about it. They saved his life, without shadow of a doubt. Nothing I can say can thank them enough.

'Sam was playing with his sister Rio, seven, and a group of friends at the time.

The rope swing got tangled round little Sam's neck but his frantic screams alerted his quick-thinking friends

Lesley said: 'From what I can gather Sam wandered off on his own. The next thing the two girls were carrying him up the street. My heart was in my mouth when I found out what happened.

'If they would have ran away to get help Sam would have died. I was in tears when it began to sink in.'

Jennifer said: 'We heard someone calling for help. I said it sounded like Sam and we followed the voice. He was dangling by his neck. Atlanta picked him up and we were both just trying to get the line off him. 

'I was really, really scared and did not know what was going to happen. I just thought that I had to save him and he is one of my friends. We finally got him free.

'Everyone has been saying that we are both really clever and brave.' 

Atlanta said the rescue was over in a couple of minutes.

She said: 'It was scary. Jennifer said it sounded like Sam. I went down to the bottom of the hill and we heard it louder. We just saw him there. 

'He had the rope around his neck and his feet were hovering in the air. I pulled him up by his legs and he was choking. It was right around his neck.

'He was trying to say things but he was struggling to get his words out. We loosened it and pulled him up then we both carried him home. We are both very pleased that Sam is fine and we took him back to his mum's.' The parents of both girls today heaped praise on their 'little heroines'.  Jennifer's mum Jillian Nuttall, 33, a customer service officer at Bolton's Market Place shopping precinct, told how the girls screamed for help.  She said: 'They heard a voice crying and shouting and Jennifer said it sounded like Sam. They thought he had hurt himself or fallen down the bank.

'When they arrived he was hanging by his neck underneath the swing. Jennifer said he was going blue and saying he could not breathe. Both girls screamed for help before Atlanta lifted Sam up so the weight was off his neck. Jennifer then managed to untangle the line.

'If it was not for the two girls he would have died. I am so proud of them.' Jillian said Jennifer, who is an insulin-dependent diabetic, and Atlanta, were 'attached at the hip'.

She added: 'They have done a remarkable thing. Both the girls were very shaken, frightened and upset. I told them they should both be very proud of what they have done. They are both little heroines.

'For children so young to do this is amazing.

Atlanta's mother Caroline Linning, 32, added: 'They could easily have run off to get help and Sam could have lost his life. To use their heads like they did at such a young age was brilliant. It does not bear thinking about what could have happened. I am just so very proud of them both.'