Hayden Waller Tribute

A British boy died on a school trip in the Austrian Alps after plunging down a crevasse as he tried to save a friend from falling.

Hayden Waller, 12, a pupil at The Howard School, in Gillingham, Kent, set off with three other boys on a dangerous trek up a mountain during their afternoon "freetime" at the resort of Mallnitz.

Police said that in an "adventurous spirit", they strayed from a path and Hayden, who was on his first ever skiing trip and was wearing only trainers, broke his neck after falling 30ft backwards down a ravine.

Officers said he had probably saved the life of Stafford Bain 14, by catching his fall.

An officer said: "His friend was standing above him when he fell and Hayden tried to catch him but both then slipped backwards. The boy that fell slid on his belly and landed in a tree after ten feet, but Hayden fell backwards for more than 30 feet, bouncing from rock to rock as he fell down the almost vertical drop."