A FORMER East Lancashire firefighter put his life-saving skills to the test - by helping to rescue a woman from an active volcano.

John Conway, who started his career in Bacup, is in Bali on a solo back-packing trip to celebrate his 33rd birthday. He was on a sunset trek up Mount Batur when he came to the aid of a woman who had fallen 40 metres into the crater.

The firefighter was recovering from the ascent when he heard that the woman had somehow fallen from a viewing platform into the crater.

Speaking from the island, he said: “I explained I was a firefighter and trauma-trained, and I was directed down into the crater where there were about four or five other people already with the woman.

“She was clearly in a very bad way. She was bleeding a lot and turning blue. I found out there was no air ambulance and the first aid supplies were really poor. All I had to use were some wet wipes, tissues and tape.”

Mr Conway was a firefighter in Bacup for 18 months before leaving in January 2017 so he could return to nearer home and is based at Highgate Community Fire Station in Birmingham.

He worked for around 30 minutes to stem the casualty’s bleeding, before he was joined in the crater by a nurse who was also on the trek.

He also asked people to take off their shirts and coats to keep the casualty warm, and he kept pinching her arm to keep her conscious.

Other trekkers then helped to form a human chain and, using a stretcher which someone had fetched from further down the volcano, they began nearly an hour’s effort to raise the injured woman from the crater.

But that was only the start of their race against time to get her to an ambulance at the bottom of the 5,600ft volcano.

It took them a further five hours, taking turns in groups, to carefully carry the patient and complete the descent.

He said: “She was obviously in severe pain and the nurse and I were worried she might have spinal injuries, but she never once complained.

“We paused every 10 minutes so the nurse and I could speak to her and stop her losing consciousness.”

Once they reached the ambulance – an estate car with just a driver and no paramedics – they learned that the nearest hospital was two hours away.

Mr Conway said: “The nurse and I went with her, and I was crouched in the back of the ambulance the whole way. It was a nightmare journey. What little oxygen there was ran out half way, and we had to stop for fuel,” John added.

But they eventually arrived at the hospital and the nurse was able to fully brief the staff who took over the young woman’s care.

Her injuries included several broken bones and fractured ribs, a fractured spine, a serious head injury and a broken nose.

John said: “Given the state in which we found her, and the extent of her injuries, it’s a miracle she survived. It’s unbelievable.

“She’s still in hospital, but she’s managed to get thanks to me for what we were able to do. We’ll be keeping in touch but the important thing for now is that she gets well and flies home as soon as she can.”

Meanwhile, John Hamer of Bacup Fire Station, was full of praise for Conway’s actions.

He said: “Bacup was John’s first firefighting job.

“He is a very kind-hearted person and we are all proud of what he did to help.

“We taught him everything he knows and I think anybody like him would have done the same in that situation.”