Pensioner pulled out of water at town pool

Man in his seventies taken to hospital after treatment

A man in his seventies was rushed to hospital after being dragged out of the water at an outdoor pool yesterday.

He was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary following the incident at Stonehaven Open Air Pool at about 1.15pm.

The facility was closed for the rest of the day but is expected to reopen as normal today.

Swimmers described seeing the man, who was apparently resuscitated at the scene, being dragged out of the water and given first aid treatment by the pool’s lifeguards.

Dundee woman Jill Robertson was visiting Stonehaven for the day with her son and daughter and had only been at the pool for 10 minutes when the drama unfolded.

She praised the lifeguards for their quick response after the man was treated moments after taking ill.

Mrs Robertson added: “It was an elderly guy, I would say between 60 and 70. My kids were just about to go on the chute, we’d just put an inflatable in the water.

“My son saw him being pulled out of the water. The first I knew about it was when one of the young lifeguards said ‘everyone leave the pool’.

“I looked across and two young lifeguards were punching his chest and putting a tube into his mouth. He was in trunks and stuff, I think he had been swimming. We were told to stand in the changing room.

“Eventually, an ambulance came and the paramedics were working on him for a while and they took him away.

“I asked how he was. I was told he had a pulse when he was going to hospital. There was lots of lifeguards.”

A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We received a call at 1.13pm today to attend an incident at Stonehaven Open Air Swimming Pool.

“We dispatched two Wildcat responders, a paramedic response unit and an ambulance to the scene.

“One male patient in his seventies was taken to the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.”

The man is said to have been visiting the pool with family and is believed to be in a stable condition.

People were offered vouchers for return visits to the facility.

A local authority spokeswoman said: “The pool has been closed while emergency services deal with the incident.”

Picture: Kim Cessford. A man in his seventies was given first aid after being pulled from Stonehaven Open Air pool.