No lifeguard in sight as boy saved
A grandmother who saved a drowning boy from a hot spring pool says no lifeguards came to her aid during the ordeal.
Judy Wilson-West, 58, became an unexpected hero when she plucked the boy out of a pool at Waingaro Hot Springs near Hamilton earlier this month.
She says the ordeal still haunts her due to how the incident was dealt with by pool staff and management.
Wilson-West said there were no lifeguards around when she jumped into the pool, nor when she got out with the boy. ‘‘I need them to acknowledge that changes need to be done.’’
A regular customer, the Pukemiro resident says there have been days when she has seen no lifeguards at all.
In 2014, the pools were closed by Waikato District Council due to safety concerns but they reopened in 2016 once repairs were completed. Last year, a 3-year-old boy also almost drowned at the pools and was found unconscious by a lifeguard.
Reliving that October 3 afternoon, Wilson-West told Stuff she was packing up about 5pm, after a day of swimming with her three grandsons, when a young woman tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to the boy.
‘‘He was floating face down in the pool . . . I jumped in clothes, gumboots and all. I grabbed him, turned him around, got his face out of the water, his lips were purple. I . . . started pumping his chest and then he was coughing.’’
Wilson-West started calling for help straight away.
She got the boy to the side of the pool and tried to roll him into the recovery position. He actually landed at his father’s feet – who was frantically looking for him.
‘‘I managed to get out of the pool, get a towel and still no lifeguards.’’
It is believed the boy, who Wilson-West said was 6 years old, had gone down one of the slides in the big pool.
Wilson-West said a woman at the nearby pub called out and said an ambulance needed to be
‘‘He was floating face down in the pool.’’ Judy WilsonWest
called. ‘‘That is when all the services came out – two fire engines and . . . police.
Wilson-West has done a first aid course but it was the first time she had to use it. She decided to speak out because she thinks changes need to be made at the pools.
The boy’s mother has since thanked Wilson-West.
‘‘She was very grateful. I feel compassion for the father because kids don’t listen and they can be so quick.’’
The Waingaro Hot Springs manager did not want to comment.