Tributes paid to Thomas Bennett, who went to help 19-year-old man on ledge of university building in Honolulu

A young British man plunged to his death from a university dormitory in Hawaii as he tried to help a teenager who had clambered out on to a ledge.

Family and friends have paid tribute to Thomas Bennett, 24, from Plymouth in Devon, who died after going to the aid of a 19-year-old man in Honolulu.

Both men fell from the 14th floor of the University of Hawaii’s Hale Wainani dormitory. The unnamed teenager is recovering from the very serious injuries he suffered.

Bennett’s mother, Lesley Heard, said: “The word ‘hero’ is banded about too freely, but what my son did was heroic. Wherever he went, he made friends with his cheeky grin, distinctive red hair and piercing blue eyes and his caring personality. He was full of life.

“I hope that young man [he was trying to help] will put his second chance at life to good use and, in time, pay forward the caring and kindness that my Tommy gave to him, so my son will not have died in vain. We are all so immensely proud of Tom for his unselfish act in helping someone else.”

Both men are believed to have been attending a party when the incident happened in the early hours of 16 August.

A close friend of Bennett, Ted Guillory, also called him a hero. “Tommy cared about – and loved – a lot of people in his life, and he proved to me that night that he cared about other people more than he even cared about himself,” Guillory said.

“What he did that night was the most heroic thing I’ve ever seen anybody do and the fact that my best friend Tommy did it – it doesn’t surprise me.”

The injured teenager suffered two broken legs, a broken arm, a collapsed lung, a partially broken back and internal bleeding. Sarah Yoro, of the Honolulu police department, said it was believed that Bennett was trying to stop the 19-year-old man from jumping when both fell.

According to witnesses, the pair were holding on to a glass pane for support when it shattered, causing both of them to plummet to the ground.

Bennett was a British citizen who was raised alongside his siblings in Exton, Pennsylvania. His mother and siblings are thought to have moved back to England but he decided to stay in the US. He followed some friends to Hawaii when he was 21 and worked as a landscaper.

“Hale Wainani” means “house of beautiful water” in Hawaiian. The tragedy happened on the day many students were moving into the dormitory for the first time. Neither Bennett nor the teenager were students at the university.

A university spokesperson said: “It’s a terrible tragedy – the last thing we want to happen … whether they are students or not. Of course, our condolences go out to their friends and family.”

Bennett leaves behind parents Lesley and Chris and siblings Annaliese, Emily, Ross and Isabelle. A funeral service for him was held at Weston Mill cemetery and crematorium in Plymouth on Monday.