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Home arrow News arrow Features arrow Heroine Amy saves brother from drowning
Heroine Amy saves brother from drowning PDF Print E-mail
Thursday, 15 May 2008
amy.jpgHeroine Amy saves brother from drowningA TEN-year-old Northside girl saved her younger brother from drowning in a swimming pool while on a foreign family holiday.
Relieved Santry mother June O’Donoghue told Northside People of her immense pride in her daughter Amy who’s quick thinking and actions saved the life of her three-year-old brother Lee.
June and her husband Derek had taken their four children to the Canary Islands on April 29 for what they hoped would be a dream family holiday.
However, that dream soon turned into a nightmare when Amy found young Lee lying at the bottom of a swimming pool just an hour into the holiday in Corrajelo on the island of Fuerteventura.
Speaking to Northside People, June, from Woodlawn, Santry, said if it wasn’t for her daughter, she fears Lee would not be alive today.
Recounting the horrific and panic-stricken moments she spent trying to save her son, June said she was now happy to be back home with all her family safe and well.

“We had only just arrived at the villa we had booked for our holiday when the incident took place,” June stated.
“All the kids had already been in for a quick swim in the pool and my husband had decided to go to the shops with our eldest daughter, Kerrie, to get some food.

“In the meantime, I was inside the villa putting sun cream on Lee and then on Amy.
“I had literally only turned my back on Lee when he was out the door of the villa and he obviously went back into the pool.”
June said Lee, who had no clothes on, must have also forgotten that he did not have his armbands on when he got into the pool.
Within minutes, the terror-stricken mum heard a scream from Amy.
“I knew instantly that something was up,” she stated.
“Amy had gone back outside and found Lee lying at the bottom of the pool.
“She immediately dived into the pool with all her clothes on and somehow found the strength to lift Lee up and take him out of the water.”
June said that when she arrived on the scene, Lee was looking blue and lifeless.
“I was in sheer panic,” she added.
“I did what little I knew of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation but I wasn’t sure if Lee would come round.”
The worried mother said Amy had already run off to find help from people in nearby villas.
“She was banging on the doors of these villas but there was nobody in them,” June said.
“But she ran after a car and thankfully got the attention of an Irish woman who actually lived on the island.”
As Amy did this, June said Lee made an effort to take a breath and began to vomit. He was then rushed to a nearby hospital in the back of a car.
“The hospital managed to get Lee stabilised but he was transferred to the main hospital on the island, which was a 40-minute drive away and he was kept in for two days, as he had some fluid on his lungs,” June explained.
“Derek got a huge shock when he got back from the shops to find Lee had been rushed to hospital.

 
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