A team of teenagers from Truro College who sacrificed their own chances of completing this year’s Ten Tors challenge to help others get to safety is in the running for a prestigious humanitarian award this weekend.

The six 17-year-olds, who gave first aid to an injured friend and then helped hundreds of others cross a river safely while taking part in the navigational challenge on Dartmoor, are among 23 young people and groups named as finalists in the British Red Cross Humanitarian Citizen Awards 2013. The ceremony takes place in London on Saturday.

Alex Davis, Anna Covey, Kieran Trerise, Ed Matthews, Tom Lowe and Amy Meeson were among the 2,400 young people taking part in the Ten Tors this May when Amy slipped while crossing a river in atrocious weather conditions, and cut her knee on a rock, sustaining an injury that later needed three stitches.

Alex, who is also a Red Cross event first aid volunteer, and his teammates administered first aid to Amy, using a tampon as an improvised dressing after the wound bled through the first two dressings in their first aid kit.

The team remained with Amy until medical support arrived but meanwhile alerted hundreds of other competitors to the danger, helping them to cross the river, along with their kit.

The team was nominated for the first aid category of the Humanitarian Citizen awards by Karen Young from the Red Cross in Exeter.

Alex said: “When Amy jumped across the river her leg smashed against a rock. As she tried to walk off her leg really hurt and she was covered in blood so I made her sit down. We washed the wound out and saw how deep it was. Our first aid kit had four dressings in it and the wound bled through the first two we applied so we used a tampon as it is good for absorbing blood and we knew it was clean, so would avoid infection.”

The group then set up shelter, activated emergency-trackers and helped hundreds of others cross the river while they waited for Amy to be evacuated by helicopter.

The following day their vice-captain also had to be evacuated after dislocating a shoulder, but despite being “crashed-out” at their ninth Tor, the team still received the Ten Tors Award and a commendation from the Brigadier because of their humanitarian acts.

Alex added: “We are all over the moon to have been nominated and one of our team members hasn’t been out of Devon or Cornwall before so is really looking forward to the trip to London. We are really proud of what we have achieved.”

Brigadier Piers Hankinson, director of Ten Tors 2013, said: "In the spirit and ethos of the Ten Tors Challenge it is excellent that this team helped an injured colleague in this way and also assisted other teams to continue the event.

“Safety is – and will always be – at the heart of Ten Tors and the team can be congratulated for carrying out its safety drills to the best effect.”

The awards are open to young people aged under 26 across the UK. The nominees do not need to have any connection with the Red Cross.