First aid skills helped me save a child from drowning
Neil Fraser, 43, is a genealogist and researcher who stars in BBC’s Heir Hunters. He lives with his wife, Kasia, and their children Nelson, five, and Kaja, three, in south-West london. ON A family holiday in Malaysia my first aid training saved a boy’s life. I was playing in the hotel pool with my wife and baby son when I heard a man a few metres away yelling ‘Help!’
I turned to see him dragging a young boy, aged around five, across the pool. The boy was blue and unresponsive.
I’d been on several first aid courses in my life — the first of which was when I was a teenager when I did the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
I had kept my training topped up, as I’d done several lifeguard qualifications at university and later a rescue diving qualification. But it had been a good 12 years since I’d even thought about my first aid training.
I didn’t have time be scared, as there was no one else around and the man was panicking. I ran over and lifted the little boy from the water. I tipped him on his side and massaged his chest to try to push water out of his lungs. But there was no sign of life.
I put him on his back and gave him two rescue breaths, blowing air into his mouth and nose. I was surprised to hear bubbles of water in his lungs — but thankfully he then exhaled loudly.
I detected light, irregular breathing and a slight pulse, so I gave him another two breaths. He started to breathe properly but was still blue and cold.
The hotel staff ran over and insisted on carrying the boy to the hotel doctor. I pushed the office door open, got the boy inside and wrapped him in a blanket. Thankfully, the doctor arrived minutes later and gave the boy oxygen. He instantly started coming around. It had been more than 30 minutes since it all started.
I was quite shaken, but felt reassured that the boy — I never did learn his name — was in medical hands. He was later taken to hospital off the island and I learned from a friend that he was fine. I felt so relieved.
Five years on, we live on the Thames and are surrounded by water, so I’m aware of my children being near it and I want them to learn to swim.
I’m glad I was there at the time; it made me realise we all need to have these vital skills. It’s bizarre because as a lifeguard at university I never had to use my training, but I remembered it years later — and it made the difference between life and death.