LUCKY Lee Stockdale today thanked the three friends who saved his life after he fell from a tree with a rope around his neck.

Lee, 12, is back home in Warwick Drive, Earby, with a deep red rope burn mark on his neck to remind him off the escape he had during an accident while climbing a tree.

Twins Michael and Steven Plummer, 14, and Lee's best friend Paul Hooper, 15, who all live in Earby, ran to his rescue and managed to untie the rope.

Lee fell unconscious for a short time and spent two days in hospital while staff kept him under observation. Back home with his friends beside him, Lee said: "I don't remember much about what happened.

"I remember I slipped from the branch and I saw Michael and Steven climbing the tree to get me down.

"The next thing I knew I was coming round on the ground with all these people there.

"I'm really grateful to them. They saved my life."

Lee's mum Dawn said: "Lee and Paul are always together. They're inseparable. They're best mates.

"As soon as Lee got back from hospital he was out with the three of them.

"He's fine now but he still has the mark round his neck."

The accident happened on Saturday afternoon near a playground in Rushton Avenue, Earby.

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