WITH a little help from my friends. Sixteen-year-old Lisa Pickering is back on safe ground thanks to her pals, after falling 12 feet from a tree in the Lake District.

As reported in last week's Guide, four of her teenage friends helped paramedics to carry Lisa down a hillside to a waiting ambulance.

After spending the night in hospital, Lisa fully recovered from her ordeal and is back in Prestwich where she lives. The four rescuers have been praised for their bravery by youth workers and rewarded for their actions by Prestwich area board.

Lisa was part of a youth group from Prestwich who spent the weekend at YMCA Lakeside, in Newby Bridge.

During the residential trip, the group, who were accompanied by youth workers, were due to take part in an overnight bivouac on a hillside.

After setting up camp and preparing their evening meal, the youngsters were allowed some free time which is when the accident happened.

Lisa, of Chapel Road, Rainsough, fell from a tree and hurt her back.

She said: "It was very high up, about 12 feet. I was in a lot of pain and could have been paralysed."

Youth workers alerted the emergency services and it took paramedics an hour to climb the hill to where the group was.

Lisa was strapped to a collapsable chair and because of the rough terrain four volunteers were needed to help carry her down to the ambulance.

Nick Chapman, Paul Latham, Karl Wallwork and Becky Watson did not hesitate to help and they took it turns to carry Lisa down the hillside, together with some of the youth workers.

By this time it was dark and they only had a couple of torches between them.

Nick (16), of Carr Avenue, Prestwich, said: "It was hard work because it was rocky and dark. Our main thoughts, though, were that Lisa was okay."

Paul, of Rainsough Brow, added: "We wanted to try and get her down as quickly as possible."

One of the youth workers accompanied Lisa to hospital and spent the night with her while the rest of the group climbed back up the hillside.

The whole operation took around three and a half hours.

Becky, who lives in Carr Avenue, said: "Lisa was very brave. She was in a lot of pain and we were worried we might fall or drop her. I suppose afterwards we did feel quite proud of what we did."

The youngsters were invited to attend Prestwich area board on Wednesday night (Sept 1), where they received a round of applause.

They were also presented with a certificate for bravery and free leisure cards for a year to use at Castle Leisure Centre, in Bury.