A HEROIC Sunningdale teacher who saved the life of her then five-year-old student was showered two Thursdays ago with not one but two awards for her quick-thinking actions.

Jo Griffith, who works at Holy Trinity CE Primary School, was honoured at the Allergy UK Hero Awards ceremony in London for her bravery in treating her pupil Freddie Jones when he went into anaphylactic shock.

She was nominated for - and won - the Community Hero award, which is given to ‘someone who has gone above and beyond the call of duty in helping, improving and saving the life of someone with allergy in the community.’ She also went on to clinch the Overall Hero award after guests at the ceremony voted for the outstanding winner from across the five categories.

Jo, 40, said: "I am honoured to have won the prizes.

"But it is quite humbling really, because there were a lot of deserving people at that awards night.

"I am very grateful to be nominated and proud that our school is so proactive about allergies."

The (now) deputy head was forced to give Freddie an EpiPen jab when he experienced a delayed nut allergy reaction, two days after eating food.

"It happened very suddenly. He had difficulty breathing and he was very nauseous," she recalled.

"It was very scary for Freddie and very worrying for his mum.

"I knew the EpiPen was going to hurt him but it was either that or something a lot worse."

Freddie, now seven, described the moment as "really frightening."

He said: "I had a bad throat and I couldn't breathe properly so I threw up. I knew I was having a nut reaction.

"I am very happy that my teacher saved my life."

According to his mum Iris Jones, the episode was especially traumatic for him as he had to deal with his own mortality.

She added: "He lost confidence in himself and he had panic attacks.

"When we went out to restaurants he would pull his chair from the table and push himself into my lap.

"He is fine now but at the time he was not confident around food."

But Iris was determined not to let her son's life be defined by his nut allergy and this one incident in particular.

"I cycled from London to Brighton to show him that whatever you are, nothing defines you," she said.

The mum-of-two hopes Freddie's story will make people rethink their assumptions about allergies.

"When you say 'allergy' people tend to think of hives, but it can be life-threatening and life changing," she continued.

"It really hit home how close we came to losing our son."

She believes Jo has been instrumental in building Freddie, his elder brother and the whole family back up.

"She stayed in close contact with us making sure that we were reassured about Freddie’s days at school and letting us know that he was doing well," she said.

"Her strength, courage and kindness will forever be part of us."