A 17-year-old first aider from Hitchin has been named St John Ambulance’s cadet of the year for eastern England.

Chloe Markham took the title at a two-day contest pitting the first aid charity’s young volunteers against each other near Nottingham.

Chloe’s training has meant she could help others in need both on duty and in public, including once when she came across a group of people huddled around an older woman on the ground in Hitchin town centre.

“Everyone was panicking and it was really refreshing to be able to be calm, work out what had happened and give the lady the treatment she needed before the paramedics arrived.” said Chloe, who has been a St John Ambulance volunteer since she was five years old.

Chloe, who has also been named cadet of the year for Herts and Bedfordshire, will now represent fellow cadets from across the east of England at public events.

To find out more about the charity’s youth programmes, see sja.org.uk/youth.