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jdgm

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Today I was doing my daily swim and had nearly finished when there was an emergency.

 

There were swimming lessons going on in one lane, teenagers - and suddenly the swimming teacher started shouting for help.

 

I was at the deep end and I could see her at the shallow end holding onto a boy who was evidently having a grand mal fit in the water.

He was thrashing about so much she couldn't pull him out.

 

The lifeguard was in the water next to him in seconds and almost simultaneously about 4-5 other staff came rushing in to help.

 

They jumped in and held the boy's body and head out of the water - no mean feat as he was really having a major epileptic seizure - and more staff came in and ordered the rest of us out of the pool, NOW PLEASE.

 

They could not lift him out of the pool until the fit stopped - took a couple of minutes - but finally they got him out, and by then there was an ambulance arriving outside.

 

There's no doubt at all that they saved his life.

 

I wonder if the swimming teacher knew he was epileptic - perhaps, but not to that degree. It is also possible - I suppose - that he'd never had a fit that bad before.

 

It was scary and quite emotional, and I am incredibly impressed by the staff reaction and teamwork. They all knew exactly what to do.

 

Suddenly a very ordinary situation turned into a life-threatening one; but they won it. They won.

 

Best wishes to all [thumbup]

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Guest Farnsbarns

When I was at school a kid I knew had a seizure in the water and didn't survive. It seems likely no one knew although the kid at school was known to have epilepsy and an inquest ruled there were too many kids and not enough supervision.

 

My mother in law is a nurse for a huge epilepsy charity. I'll ask, out of interest, if it's the norm to avoid swimming these days.

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I'm a public school teacher who works with students who have learning disabilities. I've been around students who have had such seizures.

It is such a hard thing to watch a young person go through.

I can't imagine how difficult it must have been trying to keep that kid from hurting himself.

It's good to hear that all turned out OK. :)

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Woa.. we hear of these things, but totally different when it's happening right infront of you and you can just watch.

 

It is very good they staff there was able to handle that. a tragedy avoided and a life saved.

 

A good day for the good guys...

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Can you imagine how the child's parents felt? Having a child with a disability can be scary. You want them to live a normal life, but incidents like you describe is always in the back of your mind. I'm glad it turned out well

 

With you on those insights.

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Can you imagine how the child's parents felt? Having a child with a disability can be scary. You want them to live a normal life, but incidents like you describe is always in the back of your mind. I'm glad it turned out well

 

Yes. Absolutely agree. And understand that you know much about this.

Best wishes to you Bill.

 

 

that's an awesome story to relate! i hope you will email or somehow contact them to tell them how well their staff responded. getting a little recognition can go a long way.

 

I did this; you have to say "well done" but not come over as patronising. They were doing their job. I told 2 or 3 of the staff how impressed I was.

The 1st lifeguard who jumped in is the son of one of my neighbours.

I haven't seen the swimming teacher yet but I will; it must have been pretty upsetting for her, but as one member of staff said - "these things happen - you get used to it".

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