Southport near-drowning: Four year-old saved by boaties after Broadwater incident

A four-year-old boy has been saved from drowning in the Southport Broadwater after a group of nearby boaties grabbed the child after seeing him floating lifeless in the water.

A FOUR-year-old boy has been saved from drowning in the Southport Broadwater by a group of good Samaritan boaties, who say they saw him floating motionless in the water.
It is understood the child was standing in the Broadwater off Marine Pde before the group saw him become lifeless on his back.

AFL player agent Nigel Baldwin was on his boat nearby and witnessed the near-drowning incident unfold on Sunday about 1.10pm.
He said three of his mates — Paul Hardman, Andrew Strachan and David Cooney — jumped from their boats and retrieved the child from the water.
The group provided medical assistance to the young boy on the beach until paramedics arrived, including attempting CPR.
Mr Baldwin said the child appeared to be unconscious when he was taken out of the water and began coughing up water once he came to.
A spokesman for the Queensland Ambulance Service said the child had a seizure while in the water and was submerged for 14 seconds.

Ambulances on scene after a child was pulled from the Southport Broadwater by boaties on Sunday following a near-drowning. Picture: supplied.

Queensland Ambulance Service, Lifesavers and Queensland Police officers attended the scene and the child was later transferred to Gold Coast University Hospital in a stable condition.

Mr Baldwin, of Calypso Bay, said the parents of the child had been looking for him before he was pulled from the water.

It is understood the child was part of a group who were having a barbecue on the shore, but was not being supervised.
“He was there by himself and waving his arms around, looking fine but then we looked over again and he was lifeless on his back so the guys jumped in and grabbed him,” Mr Baldwin said.

“He had a pulse and after they revived him he was being sick for quite a while.”

Mr Baldwin said the men who assisted the boy did not have a medical background, but the incident showed how important it was to be trained in first aid.