A GROUP of six pupils from Stretford Grammar have been praised after rushing to the aid of a great grandmother.

Patricia Reilly, aged 78, was waiting for a bus on Edge Lane, near Longford Park, on November 3 when she was the victim of an unprovoked assault.

Her attacker was arrested and has voluntarily sectioned herself for 28 days. Mrs Reilly had to spend several days in intensive care after suffering a broken elbow, shoulder and hip.

She's now making a slow recovery but her family say things could have been very different if the pupils from Stretford Grammar hadn't acted so quickly.

One of Patricia's sons, Ged, explained: "My mum just wants to thank the kids because she knows it could have been a lot worse if it hadn't been for them.

"You only normally hear bad press about young people these days. As a family we're really grateful and want to thank them for everything they did."

Sixth former Lee Horne, aged 18, was one of the pupils to help Patricia.

He said: "We'd been waiting for a bus when it happened and were all shocked because it was an unprovoked attack. The lady was stood there minding her own business and this happened.

Lee, who hopes to go to music college next year, added: "Everybody just rushed over to help her; we were all really concerned.

"We called an ambulance and the operator was asking us lots of questions about the victim's condition and we had to make sure she was still breathing alright. It's just a relief to hear that it seems like she'll recover."