Hero neighbour drags drowning baby from Springvale pond

A baby girl is fighting for life after being found “pale, soft and cold” in the fishpond of a Springvale home.

Phong Nguyen performed CPR on his Springvale neighbour's baby after she fell into a pond. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

A baby is fighting for life after being found unconscious in a fish pond at a home in Melbourne’s southeast.

The 11-month-old girl was found unresponsive by her family in the pond at the rear of the property located on The Crescent in Springvale about 9pm on Sunday.

Neighbours Phong Nguyen, 44, and Thu Le, 30, rushed to the baby’s aid after hearing her young brother screaming for help in the street.

“I saw the little boy screaming, ‘help, help, help’,” Mr Nguyen said.

Mr Nguyen administered emergency CPR on the baby for about four minutes until police and paramedics arrived.

The girl was hooked up to oxygen and rushed to hospital in a critical condition.

The baby remains fighting for life in the Monash Children’s Hospital paediatric intensive care unit.

“She couldn’t breathe. She was on the floor … she was pale, soft and cold,” Mr Nguyen said.

“I tried to clear her airways and get the water out, but there was none coming out so I did CPR.”

It is unclear how long the girl was in the pond for.

Ms Le said the baby’s family were in extreme distress and that she phoned triple-0 for help.

“No one called triple-0. They were just shocked and crying,” she said.

“When they found her, she was in the pond already. No one knows how long she had been in there.

Phong Nguyen and his wife Thu Le outside their Springvale home after he pulled a baby from a pond. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

“Someone pulled her out and they were just crying and crying and screaming for someone to help so we came straight away.”

The Herald Sun understands the baby is the youngest of three children aged under 10.

Ms Le said the gate around the fish pond is short and could be climbed by children.

“It is a very low gate and a baby could easily get over it. You need to have a better gate to protect the baby,” she said.

She said the baby is a sweet and friendly girl, who liked to play with her two-year-old daughter.

“She is very active, always smiling … a good girl,” Ms Le said.

Mr Nguyen heard the family’s screams after coming to the front of his property for a cigarette.

The family were celebrating their daughter’s second birthday at the time and said it was extremely lucky Mr Nguyen came outside because they would have otherwise been unable to hear the distressed family over music being played at the home.

Me Le said: “(My husband) feels so bad because he told me he wished he has heard earlier and could have saved her.”

The girl was taken to Monash Medical Centre, where she remains surrounded by family.

Loved ones could be seen delivering groceries to the house on Monday, after others left to be with the child’s mother in hospital.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman described the incident as a “possible drowning”.

“An 11-month-old baby girl was located unresponsive in a pond in the rear yard of a house on The Crescent about 9pm,” she said.

“A neighbour, followed by police and emergency services administered CPR before the toddler was conveyed to hospital in a critical condition.”

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