Noble Park Aquatic Centre lifeguards save a dying grandad after cardiac arrest in pool
TWO young Noble Park lifeguards pumped a dying grandfather’s chest about 1800 times over 18 minutes of CPR, saving the 66-year-old’s life after a sudden cardiac arrest in the water.
South East
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TWO young lifeguards hauled dying grandad Les Maslin from the water within seconds of his cardiac arrest.
Danielle Begg, 22, and Lochlan Norton, 21, told Greater Dandenong Leader they won’t ever forget that day and how all their training paid off.
Mr Maslin was halfway through a 1km swim at Noble Park Aquatic Centre when he suffered a sudden heart failure and lost consciousness.
Ms Begg and Mr Norton immediately sprang into action, pulling him from the pool and starting CPR within 60 seconds.
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Over the next 18 minutes the pair pumped the 66-year-old’s chest roughly 1800 times in a bid to keep him alive.
“When I was giving him CPR he’d take a couple of big breaths then he’d stop again so I’d get angry and yell at him,” Mr Norton said.
He said he’d performed smaller rescues before but this was his first major one with CPR.
“We had the confidence to know what to do because we’ve done the training,” he said.
“It highlighted the importance of CPR and first aid, you don’t know when it’s going to be needed.
“It’s something that we’ll always remember, always carry with us and cherish.”
Ms Begg, who only started life guarding three months before, said it was her first rescue and she was immensely proud of her actions.
“We had just completed our lifeguard update training together about a month before, so we had the experience of knowing how each other works in an emergency,” she said.
Mr Maslin’s wife Sue, 66, watched on from the pool deck as emergency services worked to revive her motionless husband.
She hugged the lifeguards as paramedics loaded her husband into an ambulance.
“One of the reasons why we swim at NPAC is we noticed the lifeguards are always watching people, they never have their back to you,” she said.
Mr Maslin was taken to Monash Hospital and diagnosed with a ‘misfiring’ heart. He now has a mini defibrillator implanted in his chest.
Within three weeks of his near-death experience on March 15, he was back in the water working towards his usual twice weekly 24-lap sessions.
Mr Maslin said he doesn’t remember the incident but has decided to share his story to show people the importance of keeping fit, eating well and to highlight how lifeguards are professional and highly trained.
“A cardiac arrest you virtually get no warning and it could happen to anyone, even young people,” he said.
“It’s lucky I was where I was when it happened with the facilities available.”
He’s now somewhat of a legend around NPAC and has a selfie of the two lifeguards as his phone screen saver as a reminder of their bravery.
“We want to convey this story to show how positive it is, but we don’t see ourselves as heroes, we were just doing our job,” Mr Norton said.
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