She's a real life saver

Drowning boy spared by sharp eyesight, swift action

MADELEINE Prince is only seven but knew something was seriously amiss in the water of her backyard pool.

Critically, she knew enough about water safety to act swiftly and saved a boy, 4, from the depths of the water.

“I jumped in and saw something grey so I swam over and I saw the little boy,” Madeleine said yesterday.

“I pulled him over to where I could stand and then pulled his head up out of the water.”

Her actions meant the boy’s mother and Madeleine’s parents were able to perform resuscitation, leading to him coughing up water before being later cared for by paramedics.

The incident was at a gathering of family and friends at her home during summer holidays, but yesterday the grade 2 pupil was the toast of Holy Spirit Primary School assembly after being presented with a Life Saving Victoria commendation acknowledging her bravery and quick actions.

Life Saving Victoria community education services coordinator Melissa Laird said the incident highlighted how quickly incidents could happen and demonstrated the importance of children acquiring water safety skills at an early age.

She said children could drown in just a few centimetres of water.

“Don’t expect them to yell for help or try and attract any attention, they often drown silently. Twenty seconds is all it takes for a toddler to drown,” Ms Laird said.

The boy had unclipped his bubble float and jumped into the pool unnoticed.

Madeleine’s mum Caroline said adults had been sitting on the edge of the pool at the time.

“Even with adult supervision situations can change very quickly,” Mrs Prince said.

She said Madeleine’s confidence had built from regular lessons at Newtown’s Kick Swim School from when she was four.