A WOMAN who found her son dying in the road after a car hit his bicycle today made a life-saving call for youngsters to wear safety helmets.

Blackburn mother-of-four Joanne Lord had stopped to help an injured boy - only to discover it was her 13-year-old son, Anthony.

Mrs Lord, a trained first-aider, gave her son mouth-to-mouth resuscitation but he later died in hospital.

Anthony, previously of New Bank Road, Revidge, Blackburn, suffered serious head injuries after swerving into the path of a car in a busy main road close to the family's new home in Cornwall.

An inquest into the death heard he was not wearing a helmet. Today Mrs Lord said her son's death should not be in vain and issued a plea for all young cyclists to wear helmets.

She said: "Anthony wore a helmet occasionally but it is hard work to get a 13-year-old to wear one. I spoke to two neurologists about Anthony's injuries and they told me that even if he had been wearing a helmet, it would not have saved him.

"However I would still urge other people to wear a helmet to be on the safe side."

The hearing, in Truro, was told how the youngster's BMX bike collided with a Vauxhall Cavalier on a bypass near Newquay in February.

Mrs Lord and her husband Nigel had been travelling home on the same stretch of road.

It was only when the couple jumped out of their vehicle to help they realised the purple BMX bike in the road was Anthony's.

The former pupil of Witton Park High School Business and Enterprise College was taken by air ambulance to the Royal Cornwall Hospital.

Mrs Lord said: "With the help of other people I log-rolled Anthony onto his back and started to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

"I gave Anthony a few breaths, then an off-duty paramedic and an off-duty policeman came to take over.

"I could see Anthony was in a bad way, and deep down I knew he would probably die. Anthony was a responsible child, and I would describe him as an adult in a child's body."

The teenager had been riding with his friend Ricky James to visit another friend.

Ricky, 13, said in a statement that he saw Anthony, who was in front of him, swerve to the right across the road without signalling.

He said his friend could have been showing off or may have intended to cross the road to reach some bike ramps.

Mrs Lord added: "Anthony was a show-off and a proper lads' lad but he was extremely sensible and we don't know why he swerved that day.

"He loved going out on his bike, playing on his computer and going horse riding. He was also an Army cadet.

"Before he died he took some tests and he got 88 per cent in them so the Army have actually given me the badges he earned, which I've put in a box of all his things."

Mrs Lord's helmet call was backed by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. Kevin Clinton, head of road safety, said: "RoSPA recommends that all cyclists wear a helmet whenever they ride. Helmets significantly reduce the risk of receiving a head and brain injury if you have a crash and could save a life.

"Helmets don't prevent accidents from happening and in severe accidents might not be enough to save the life but it is much safer to wear one."

Anthony's family moved from Blackburn in 2004 to start a new life in Bospolvans Road, St Columb Major, near Newquay.

His new friends and college pals are now planning to organise a sponsored walk in his memory which his parents, his two brothers Ben and Sam, and 14-year-old sister Jamie(correct) hope to take part in.

Anthony, who attended Treviglas Community College, had five of his organs donated after he told his mother that was what he wanted if he died.

Headteacher of Witton Park, Heather Jamison(correct), today paid tribute to Anthony. She said: "The school would like to express its deepest regret at the sad news concerning Anthony and would like to offer its sincerest condolences to Anthony's family."

Dr Peter Blackwell-Smyth, the deputy coroner for Cornwall, recorded a verdict of accidental death.