Pride of Australia: Brave duo at scene of double drowning

When a mother and son were found at the bottom of a suburban pool, these two men did not hesitate for a moment. Their bravery is extraordinary.

IT WAS a terrible tragedy that shook Brisbane.

A mother and a son perished after being found in a backyard pool in Brisbane’s north just before Christmas.

Two brave men, David Crowley and David Perkins, fought to save their lives, pulling them from the pool and administering CPR until emergency services arrived on the scene.

It was this heroic response that earnt them a nomination for Pride of Australia.

On December 20 2018, a 31-year-old woman and an 11-year-old boy were found at the bottom of a pool in The Grange complex in Brendale.

Clocking off from his roofing work early for Christmas holidays, Mr Perkins was first on scene after a distressed girl shouted for help.

David Crawley and David Perkins, who attempted to save a mother and son from drowning in a pool at Brendale. Picture: Lachie Millard

“She was in total shock, her eyes were wide open,” Mr Perkins said.

“I followed her to the gate and saw two bodies right at the bottom in the deep end and thought no, no, no.”

Working from home, Mr Crowley heard Mr Perkins’ cry for help, before he rushed over to assist.

“When I had arrived David (Perkins) had already pulled the young boy out and was attempting to get the woman out”, Mr Crowley said.

With his wife working in the ambulance services, Mr Crowley knew straight away critical care paramedics and high-acuity response unit were needed.

“I knew two people down for that long … those guys (Queensland Ambulance) had the drugs to give them a chance,” he said.

“The distinct memory I have from that day is the amount of emergency services that just started flooding through that (pool) gate.”

Although the outcome was tragic, the men’s effort to perform backyard CPR in conjunction with a prompt response to triple-0 was able to retrieve a pulse on both ­patients before they were taken to hospital.

It is still not known how long the bodies were submerged in the pool, but Mr Perkins believes it was close to about 20 minutes.

Mr Crowley said that the experience took him a “few weeks to calm down” from and every time he saw a child in the water – it heightened his emotions.

“We live in a country that is surrounded by water and our lifestyle is around water,” he said. “It (the drowning) prompted a lot of my friends and family to go get CPR training who had been putting it off for a number of years,” Mr Crowley said.

Mr Perkins, who moved with his fiancee to Queensland from Melbourne, said they “love this pool” and the Grange community.

News Corp, publisher of The Courier-Mail is partnering with Australia Post and Seven news to stage the 2019 awards.

Nominations are open at http://prideofaustralia.com.au/ until October 21