A TEENAGER this week told how a baseball cap and a BBC TV programme helped save his life.

Nathan Priestley was tunnelling in dunes on an Anglesey beach when 40 feet of sand collapsed on top of him, trapping the youngster for ten frantic minutes.

Hearing rescuers digging out sand with their bare hands, Nathan (13) remembered the advice given on a recent edition of the programme "999" and remained calm, conserving his very limited air supply trapped under the brim of his cap.

According to paramedics, the youngster was lucky to be alive and was only minutes from death before being plucked to safety.

In water, the brain usually shuts down from lack of oxygen after about four minutes, an emergency services spokesman said, so surviving for ten minutes was miraculous.

Fortunately for Nathan his baseball cap, borrowed from his brother for the holiday, trapped a small pocket of air which gave him extra vital minutes of oxygen before he gradually fell unconscious.

Said Nathan: "It was like slowly falling asleep. I could hear people shouting and digging and it was very distant but I knew they were digging for me and I realised I had to stay calm and conserve my air supply.

"I had watched '999' so I knew panicking wouldn't do any good."

Nathan, of Castle Hill Road, Birtle, Bury, had gone on holiday with three school friends, including Patrick Baines and his mother Linda, and were staying in a caravan close to the Newborough beach in Anglesey. They had not long been on the beach when the drama began. Eighteen months earlier a boy died in a similar incident.

Mrs Baines saw what had happened and began digging at the sand with her bare hands. However, for every two handfuls scooped away, more sand was displaced to fill the gap. Three men responded to her cries for help and joined in the frantic search for Nathan.

Mrs Norma Priestley, Nathan's mum, said: "The men reached Nathan's head first thanks to information from Patrick about the exact location where Nathan was when the sand collapsed on top of him.

"Linda said the men dug at the sand as though it was one of their own children trapped in the dune."

Pulled free, Nathan was rushed to hospital for treatment where he was told of his miraculous escape. "I knew I was only two minutes away from death," said Nathan, who returned to Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School on Monday to meet up with his holiday friends.

Nathan's parents are now warning others to stop their children from digging tunnels in sand dunes.

"Nathan insists the cap saved his life," added his mum. "Others may not be so lucky."

The three men are now expected to be considered for Royal Humane Society awards for their part in Nathan's rescue.

Said Mrs Priestley: "We cannot thank them enough."

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