A pensioner who collapsed at a bus stop in Sturry has thanked three young heroes who leapt to her aid.

Shirley Griffiths from Broad Oak was out shopping when she started to feel unwell, fainted and hit her head.

The 82-year-old had recently been recovering from a stomach operation after battling bowel cancer when she began to feel faint.

She said: “I was waiting to get on to the number seven bus and the next thing I know I was on the floor.

“Two boys helped me to my feet and they rang for an ambulance but they said it could take two hours.

“I couldn’t have waited that long.

“I also didn’t have much money on me.”

But to the grandmother’s amazement help was at hand.

“One of the young men put some money in my purse, I wish I could have thanked him properly,” she said.

The mystery benefactor then left but 19-year-old Ashleigh Foley, from Canterbury, and her boyfriend Ben Ferguson, 18, from Herne Bay stayed with her.

Mrs Griffiths said: “They came with me in the taxi, and when we got to Kent & Canterbury hospital they got me a wheelchair and they knew exactly what to do.

“They have been so wonderful. Anything could have happened if I had been left there – I could have been robbed.

“I was in a bit of a daze when I left and I wanted to thank them properly but I didn’t even get their names.”

“I was in a bit of a daze when I left and I wanted to thank them properly but I didn’t even get their names" - Shirley Griffiths

Mrs Griffiths was seen by medics at the hospital but was then told she would need to travel to the QEQM at Margate to be seen again.

She said: “The journey made me feel very sick, and when I arrived there were so many people there I thought I would be there for hours.”

Fortunately, she was seen within the hour and was given the all-clear to return back home to Canterbury.

After her fall, a neighbour launched a social-media campaign to find the kind-hearted teenagers so that Mrs Griffiths could thank them properly

To her delight, Ashleigh and Ben were found and they spoke on the phone.

Mrs Griffiths said: “I said to Ashleigh ‘your mum and dad must be very proud’ and she answered ‘yes I think they are’.”

She now plans to take the pair for lunch to say thank you properly.