Three heroes work together to save girl, 7, from drowning at Narrabeen Lagoon
Three men who helped save a seven-year-old girl from drowning at a lagoon on Sydney’s northern beaches have described the frantic moments before and after her miraculous rescue which was a simple stroke of luck.
Manly
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A man who helped save a little girl he found lifeless at the bottom of Narrabeen Lagoon has described the frantic moments before and after her miraculous rescue.
Pete Lendrum was among about 25 people who leapt into the water on Sunday afternoon searching for the seven-year-old who had been missing for five minutes.
The water was so murky and choppy that Mr Lendrum, from Point Clare on the central coast, only found the girl when he bumped her with his foot in 1.5m of water, about 20m from shore.
After dragging her up from the muddy lake bed the 29-year-old engineering student began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation as he made his way to a small beach.
He handed her limp and blue body over to his brother Tim and Mat Savage, a volunteer surf lifesaver from Curl Curl.
Tim Lendrum, from Castle Hill, took over breathing into the child’s mouth while Mr Savage started chest compressions.
At the same time, Mr Lendrum’s other brother Michael, from Empire Bay, was on the phone with ambulance paramedics, relaying instructions to the rescuers.
The girl, from Fairfield, was splashing in the shallows at Bilarong Reserve with her six-year-old cousin when they both got into difficulties.
The Lendrums were picnicking nearby with about 30 relatives at a family reunion when someone shouted, just before 1pm, that a boy was struggling in the water about 15m from shore.
The boy, who was floating face down, was quickly rescued but then his mother, who could not speak English well, began indicating that another child, her niece, was under the water.
She was shouting and had a mobile phone to her ear.
“A lot of people jumped in,” Mr Lendrum, a father of two boys, said. “The woman said the word ‘pink” so we knew we were looking for a little girl.
“The water was murky, and choppy so I started feeling round with my feet. It took a few minutes before I felt her on the bottom. She was a long way from the bank, about 20m.
“I pulled her straight up and starting breathing into her mouth as I tried to run back to the beach. Some frothy water came up, but she was unconscious and not breathing.”
Tim Lendrum and Mr Savage worked on the little girl for another two or three minutes while three ambulances and the CareFlight helicopter were still on their way.
Mr Savage, a member of the North Curl Curl Surf Life Saving Club, said he used just three fingers while doing CPR on the girl.
“She was tiny,” he said. “There was very little resistance while I was doing the chest compressions. She was a terrible colour. She was like a limp rag doll.
“As Tim was putting in the breaths more and more foamy water was coming out of her mouth.
“Eventually we could feel a pulse and I could feel her heartbeat through her back she was that small.”
Tim Lendrum, whose parents live at Mona Vale, said there was a scramble to find the girl after the call for help went out.
“But once Pete found her it was all action stations and everyone did what they had to do.
“It was a good outcome, considering that she did not have a pulse to start with.”
The Lendrums and Mr Savage handed he girl over to a doctor and specialist paramedic from CareFlight and NSW Ambulance paramedics.
She, and her cousin, who was conscious, were taken by ambulance to the Sydney Children’s Hospital at Randwick. The girl went into the intensive care unit and placed in an induced coma.
Her cousin is recovering in a medical ward.
Northern Beaches Police duty officer Simon Whitfield, who was on duty on Sunday, described the actions of the rescuers as heroic and said it was likely they would be nominated for an award.
Inspector Whitfield said the girl could have died at the scene had CPR not been started so quickly and he praised the efforts of all those who took part in the dramatic search and rescue.
“The incident is a timely reminder for parents and carers to be vigilant when around water with children,” he said.