Barry teens praised for helping missing dementia patient

Four teenagers who helped a missing dementia patient have been praised by police.

Shanae, Carys, Tiana and Teaghan saw the man struggle to walk on Barry’s Harbor Road on Saturday.

Twins Tiana and Teaghan, 15, said the man asked them for help and said he had hypothermia.

They were then joined by Shanae, 15, and Carys, 14 – Shanae started stopping cars while Tiana and Teaghan called an ambulance.

After about 20 minutes, an unmarked police car pulled up and the man was taken to the hospital.

“If it wasn’t for me and my friends, God knows where he would have ended up,” Shanae said.

“He could have collapsed on the floor and might not have been here today.”

She said the man “drifted away and had seizures” and that he was shaking, so she tried to calm him down.

Shanae said her grandfather had dementia and hoped her late grandmother would be proud of her.

“I hope my grandma would look down and think if I help someone I’m a good person,” said the Ysgol Gymraeg student Bro Morgannwg.

Carys, from St Athan, Vale of Glamorgan, said: “Anything could have happened the way he was. He was pretty desperate.”

Tiana and Teaghan’s uncle, Ken Walters, said he was proud of the girls who stopped to help.

South Wales Police thanked them for their help and said the man had dementia and had been reported missing.

PCSO Dominic Bury said: “The girls stayed with the man for a time in terrible weather, making sure he was okay until they could go for help.

“They contacted emergency services and officers pulled over, who brought the man back to the hospital safe and sound.”