First aider’s mind still on pool rescue
KRISTOPHER Ray can’t stop thinking of the little girl he saved after she was pulled from a Cairns resort pool unconscious.
The Clermont mine worker’s first aid training kicked into gear on Monday night when he was alerted to a “dark spot” on the bottom of the pool at BIG4 Ingenia Holidays Cairns Coconut Resort at Woree.
He was swimming with his nine-year-old son and fouryear-old daughter when he heard a man yelling.
“I swam from one side of the pool to the other and the little girl was blue, she had no colour, but I went through a few rounds CPR and she came back,” Mr Ray said.
“I‘m very happy she’s all well and 100 per cent. I was in shock. I honestly thought she was gone.
“She was frothing at the mouth and the first couple of breaths weren’t getting down into her lungs. I did a few more compressions and she started coming back.
“It was a crazy feeling. I just keep thinking about it.”
Mr Ray and his family were “just passing through” Cairns on the way to visit his sister in Weipa when fate led him to be in the right place at the right time to save seven-year-old Dalby girl Isobel Somerfield’s life.
“Everyone was saying I saved this girl’s life,” Mr Ray said.
“I do mines rescues, I have advanced first aid, so I’ve been trained in it. I was a bit hesitant but it all came back to me.
“I did everything and she was taken away in the ambulance. I called the hospital and they said she was OK and I’d done a good job but I didn’t feel like I had closure.
“It hit home. My daughter and son were watching the whole thing. My daughter didn’t really understand what was going on but I explained to my son what happened and why I had to do what I did.”
According to staff who reviewed CCTV footage at the BIG4 Ingenia Holidays Cairns Coconut Resort, Isobel could have been under water for about a minute before she was pulled out.
Mr Ray said he had a couple of beers that night and planned to do some fishing in Weipa on the rest of his holiday.
Yesterday, Cairns police presented nine-year-old Tia Muir with a certificate in recognition of her bravery after she alerted adults to Isobel at the bottom of the pool on Monday night.
Constables James O’Hare and Amy Logan met Tia and her family at a local playground.
Constable O’Hare said he was extremely impressed by Tia’s actions and bravery in the moment of need.