A NORTH-EAST soldier battled in the desert heat to save a trapped man after coming across the aftermath of a car crash.

Army officers believe medic George Demopoulos saved the lives of two people after their Jeep careered 80 metres down a steep hill in Afghanistan.

The Newcastle soldier also treated a third person when he was first on the scene of the accident.

Staff Sergeant Demopoulos, who is with the 201 Northern Field Hospital, based at Fenham Barracks in the city, was leading a team returning from a six-day patrol when he came across the scene.

The driver was waiting for help next to the injured passengers when they arrived. He had stopped by the road, but left the handbrake off and the Jeep, with its four passengers, had rolled down the hillside.

One of the injured was trapped unconscious underneath the vehicle and was struggling to breathe.

Sgt Demopoulos, a 39-year- former pupil of Grainger Grammar School, said: "I took hold of myself and just got on with prioritising the casualties.

"One man was dead, a second man, aged 50, was unconscious with severe head injuries and breathing diffic- ulties and was stuck under the Jeep, one woman had a suspected fracture of the shoulder and the fourth was suffering from shock."

Under his direction, the team rescued the men from the precariously positioned vehicle while he administered first aid.

After stabilising the three casualties, they were taken to safety on improvised stretchers where a civilian vehicle had already been flagged down to take them to a local clinic.

Despite Sgt Demopoulos's successful efforts in resuscitating and treating the 50-year-old man, he died later in hospital of a brain haemorrhage.

Sgt Demopoulos, from Westerhope, has served in the Royal Army Medical Corps for 19 years.

His mother, Eileen, 64, paid tribute to her son who followed in the footsteps of his soldier grandfather - also called George - who served in the Durham Light Infantry.

She said: "People I have spoken to have called him a hero and to me he really is."