The heroic actions of a father and son have saved the life of a vacationer who suffered a heart attack while swimming in a resort pool.
The 11-year-old Freddie Newton informed his off-duty fireman father, Matt, after seeing Debbie Taylor’s corpse in the pool in Menorca. Clinically dead Debbie, 56, was subjected to six minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) by 42-year-old Matt until a defibrillator could be located and her heart was restarted.
The mother of four, while swimming in May at the four-star Globales Mediterranian Hotel with her 52-year-old husband Dave, Debbie, of Northall, Bucks., suffered a heart attack. The NHS administrator had been allowing Dave to snap pictures of her reclining on the poolside just a few moments prior. Suddenly, he was in a situation where he had to save her from the water. In Debbie’s account, the events leading up to her near fatality began with what seemed like a light switch flicking in her brain.
All she remembers was her being deadweight and her husband and another man trying to get her out of the pool.
Upon her return to the resort following five days in the hospital, Debbie embraced Matt in an emotional shot. Matt, a father of two, remarked that it was astonishing when Debbie returned to the hotel. He went from seeing her dead to her being carted away in an ambulance and then her alive.
After four days in the ICU and one more day of recovery, Debbie was finally cleared to return home. In the United Kingdom, Debbie’s primary care physician recommended that she go to the A&E for further testing. There, physicians confirmed that a blood clot in her lung most likely caused Debbie’s symptoms. Regular blood tests and medicines have put Debbie on the road to recovery.
A special assembly will be held at Brookfield Junior Academy, Freddie’s school, to acknowledge his alertness and quick thinking. According to Principal Daisy Dunning, Freddie has brought enormous pride to everyone at Brookfield Junior Academy. The event has served as a reminder to everyone in the school and community about the significance of watching out for one another, staying vigilant, and speaking out when necessary.
