Toddlers in close calls

Father hailed hero after pulling daughter from dam and reviving her

THE father of a young girl found unconscious in a dam has been credited with saving his daughter’s life.

Billy Abbey found his two-year-old daughter Nika unconscious in a dam on a rural property west of Dalby about 7.40pm Tuesday.

She is believed to have wandered from the home and was found to be missing at dinner, sparking a search of the property.

She was found in the dam. Mr Abbey pulled her from the water and revived her before paramedics arrived on the property.

Queensland Ambulance paramedics took over CPR efforts and established an intravenous line before the RACQ Life Flight helicopter airlifted her to the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital in a stable condition.

She was discharged yesterday and allowed to return home.

“All is well,” Mr Abbey told The Chronicle, and requested privacy for his family.

Chinchilla police are investigating the incident but there are no suspicious circumstances at this stage.

In a separate incident, a toddler was rushed to hospital after a near-drowning at a private property at Lowood about 6.40pm Tuesday.

The two-year-old girl was found in an inflatable pool at the property.

Police attended the property at 6.42pm before the child was taken to Ipswich Hospital in a stable condition.

Meanwhile, an Ipswich family is mourning the death of toddler Aliyana Caplin who passed away after drowning in a backyard swimming pool last week.

The two-year-old was pulled unconscious from a pool at Raceview last Wednesday afternoon and rushed to the Lady Cilento Hospital, where she was kept in intensive care.

Police confirmed that Aliyana passed away on Monday evening.