Riley Keel, 17, was on his way home from school after lunch last month, when he noticed a man slumped over in his gopher.

“I didn’t think much of it at first, but then when I left home 10 minutes later he was still there, so I went to check on him,” he said.

“I shook him and said his name, but he gave me nothing.”

Riley said the man has no pulse and wasn’t breathing. 

He rang triple zero and the operator talked him through what to do next.

The first step was to get the man off the gopher and onto the ground.

“That was quite difficult because it was the dead weight of someone and I had to do it carefully,” Riley said.

He then started chest compressions on the man.

“I did about 10 and he took three deep breaths, but then stopped breathing again,” he said.

“The operator told me to keep going until he had a normal breathing routine.” 

Riley said it took about 35 compressions before the man started breathing normally again. The ambulance, which came from Horsham, arrived 20 minutes later.

Riley said it was a scary situation. 

He is a Murtoa Fire Brigade member and had completed his first aid training two weeks before the incident.

“I’m so glad I went back to check on the man otherwise it might have been a different story,” he said.

“I was on my own for most of the time – someone else eventually came along but that was after the man was breathing again.”

Riley said everyone should do a first aid training course.

“It might take a whole day to do, but you don’t know what’s around the corner,” he said.

“The operator stepped me through the compressions, but I really wouldn’t have known what to do if I hadn’t done my training.

“I definitely didn’t expect to use those skills so soon. Having the training behind me boosted my confidence to help someone.”

Riley said the man he helped was doing fine.