The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
‘Unsung heroes’ praised by mum after nightmare
NHS: Paramedics saved a young boy after he was found lifeless in a loch
When Fife mum Laura Cuthbert travelled to a remote location in the west of Scotland with her then threeyear-old son Felix in August 2018, it was supposed to be an enjoyable late summer break visiting a friend.
On the second day, rest and relaxation turned into a nightmare when her son, who has severe autism, was found floating face down and lifeless in a loch after being left on his own for mere moments in the house.
Laura said: “I was in the kitchen and he was literally in the next room playing when it happened.
“We were running around like mad looking for him and my friend spotted him face down – saw his nappy floating – and pulled him out of the water.
“Out of nowhere I started doing CPR. I’ve never done CPR before. I think it was a mother’s instinct. I was like ‘I’m not losing my son’.”
Rasping and with water spewing from his mouth, Laura did what she could to keep him breathing until paramedics arrived.
By chance, a special operations team and paediatric specialist were training in a nearby East Renfrewshire village.
Hearing the 999 call on their radio, they got there 20 minutes before the en route ambulance crew would have arrived.
Felix was put into an induced coma in a Glasgow hospital.
Despite initial fears of brain damage, he has recovered well and has just turned five, starting school in Rosyth.
Dublin-born Laura, who works as a customer consultant at the Yorkshire Building Society in Dunfermline, said she cannot praise highly enough the “unsung heroes” of the Scottish Ambulance Service and wider NHS who saved her son’s life.
“The way these paramedics did their job was like something you’d see in a film – it was unbelievable the way they swooped in.
“How they worked together as a team was unbelievable.
“The staff at the hospital in Glasgow were also absolutely amazing. These people are not given enough credit.”