Luka Huddle, 2, drowns in dam near family home on Windermere Rd at Lara, Victoria

The mother and grandmother of drowned Luka Huddle have recounted how they watched police desperately try to revive the 2-year-old after his body was pulled from a dam outside Geelong.

The mother and grandmother of a drowned 2-year-old have recounted how they watched police desperately try to revive the boy after his lifeless body was pulled from a dam outside Geelong.

Luka Huddle drowned in a dam on a property off Goulburn Park Drive in Lara after wandering off from the family home late Tuesday afternoon.

Emergency services tried to revive the young boy in front of his mother, Karin Huddle, and grandmother, Sharon Huddle, but were unable to save him.

Luka Huddle, 2, drowned in a dam near Geelong Picture: GoFundMe

Sharon on Wednesday recounted how she had fought through police officers to see her grandson’s body before she was allowed to say goodbye.

“When I hugged my grandson, he was that cold,” Sharon said.

A distraught Karin Huddle outside her family home on Wednesday. Picture: Brad Fleet

Karin and Sharon Huddle desperately searched for Luka after he wandered off. Picture: Brad Fleet

Luka had been helping Ms Huddle ‘rug up’ their horses late in the afternoon on Tuesday when he ran off.

Karin and Sharon walked around surrounding scrubland in an effort to find Luka and called emergency services as the daylight escaped them.

“When we went looking for him, we went to the dam and saw nothing,” Sharon said.

It is believed Luka ran off with the family puppy, Poppy, into land across the road.

Karin recently moved to the Lara property. Picture: Brad Fleet

The dam where Luka died. Picture: Brad Fleet

While out searching for Luka, Karin and Sharon found Poppy appear from the bushes covered in water.

“I saw the dog come out of the laneway … I see her come out of the bushes,” Karin said.

“I screamed at her ‘get home’ and I ran.

“I’ve gone ‘where’s the dam’ because I’ve seen that she’s wet.

“We’re thinking, that dog’s come out to inform us there’s something gone wrong.”

Luka Huddle and his mum, Karin. Picture: Supplied

The dam where Luka was found sits behind a series of seemingly abandoned greenhouses at a derelict private property across the road from the Huddle home.

Karin is a single mother who only recently moved into the small property.

Poppy’s paw prints could be seen in the mud lining the bank of the murky waters on Wednesday morning.

Draped in her son’s blanket and holding his favourite stuffed-toys, Karina and Sharon stood shoulder-to-shoulder as they shared memories of young Luka on Wednesday morning.

Karin said her son was a cheeky and adventurous boy who always had the biggest smile on his face.

Standing within eyesight of the property where her son had died, she said was “numb” and still “in shock”.

“I don’t have a lot of words on how I feel because I don’t know how I feel,” she said.

“I’m just very shocked, I’m angry.”

Visibly emotional, Karin and Sharon said they had experienced every family’s worst “nightmare”.

“To go inside (the house) and look at my boy’s toys, my boy’s clothes,” Karin said before she broke down in tears.

Sharon said she had been left “devastated” by Luka’s death, adding she did everything with her grandson.

“I just can’t believe my little buddy is gone,” she said.

Karin said Luka had learned how to swim and wasn’t afraid of the water, but he would never go in the water without his floaties on.

Born in Hoppers Crossing, Luka had never experienced a big backyard and after moving to the small property in Lara, his adventurous side flourished, always wandering off to explore.

“He was so excited with all this room to run and roam and everything,” Karin said.

The family said the fencing around the area, and at the property across the road, was “atrocious”.

Karin said she had spent a “fortune” just to get her own property up to standard.

“Fencing needs to be adequate,” she said.

“I understand people want to make money off these properties, I understand they’re (owners) going to develop it, but that doesn’t save lives.

“Fencing saves lives.”

Large sections of the wire-mesh fencing around the dam has collapsed and there appeared to be no fence at the rear of the property.

A cousin of the family has set up a GoFundMe page to help Karin with her son’s funeral costs.

Police are preparing a report for the coroner and the investigation into the incident remains ongoing.

Originally published as Luka Huddle, 2, drowns in dam near family home on Windermere Rd at Lara, Victoria