'Clinically dead' holidaymaker brought back to life after young boy raised alarm

18 June 2024 , 09:10

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Little hero Freddie Newton with his dad Matt (Image: Rotherham Advertiser/SWNS)

A father and son have been hailed as heroes for helping save the life of a holidaymaker who went into cardiac arrest in a swimming pool.

Quick-thinking Freddie Newton, 11, spotted Debbie Taylor's lifeless body by the side of the pool in Menorca and alerted his dad Matt, an on off-duty firefighter. Matt, 42, leapt into action and performed CPR for six minutes on clinically dead Debbie, 56, until a defibrillator was found to restart her heart.

After making a full recovery, mum-of-four Debbie said of dad and lad: "It's a miracle. If they hadn't done what they did in the seconds they did it, I probably wouldn't be here. If Freddie hadn't gone and seen his dad and said, 'The lady is not moving' and he hadn't come over and saved me, it could have been a completely different story.

"I could have had brain issues, but I've got nothing at all. Everything that Matt did was completely 100 per cent spot on. What he did saved my life completely. I can never thank them enough for what they did, ever." Mum-of-four Debbie, from Northall, Buckinghamshire, went into cardiac arrest while taking a dip at the four-star Globales Mediterrani Hotel as she holidayed with husband Dave, 52, in May.

Debbie just before she went into cardiac arrest at the resort in Menorca (Dave Taylor/SWNS)

Debbie embracing Matt after she was released from hospital (Katie Newton/SWNS)

Just moments earlier, the NHS administrator had been leaning against the edge of the pool so Dave could take some photos. But he suddenly found himself having to pull her from the pool. Debbie said: "I remember a light switch in my head just sort of clicked, and then all I can remember is just being disoriented.

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"I was trying to upright myself, which was a bit weird, and I could just see the white tiles of the pool. My husband and another man managed to get me out of the pool, but I was like a dead weight." A touching photo captured the moment Debbie embraced Matt with a hug when she returned to the resort after five days in hospital.

Speaking about their emotional reunion, dad-of-two Matt said: "It was brilliant. You go from seeing her dead, then she left the hotel with the paramedics and when she came back walking through the doors, it was unbelievable. "It makes all your training and everything worth it."

Matt, of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, had just checked in the hotel with wife Katie, 39, Freddie and their other son George, 14, when the drama unfolded. Freddie spotted Debbie's body close to the poolside and immediately grabbed his dad to take him over to deliver his life-saving support.

Matt Newton with Dave Taylor having a drink on the night of the incident (Katie Newton/SWNS)

Matt said: "We are so proud of him. We had only just arrived at the hotel when it happened we'd dropped our suitcases in the room and headed to the pool and had been there about half an hour. Freddie George went off to play when Freddie came back saying there was a lady in the pool not moving.

"There was a little island in the pool with palm trees on it where we were so we would never have seen it if it wasn't for Freddie noticing and grabbing me. When I saw her, she was half in the pool and half out of the pool... I just ran over." Debbie spent four days in intensive care and a further day recovering before being allowed to go home.

Back in the UK, Debbie was told by her GP to visit A&E for a further analysis, where doctors discovered that a blood clot on her lung had likely caused her condition. She said: "Obviously, the blood clot could have happened on the flight, and that's what caused the cardiac arrest." Debbie is now on medication and going for regular blood tests.

Debbie Taylor and Dave Taylor (Dave Taylor/SWNS)

Freddie will now have a special assembly at his school, Brookfield Junior Academy, to recognise his "alertness and quick-thinking." Principal Daisy Dunning said: "Everyone at Brookfield Junior Academy is immensely proud of Freddie. We cover all elements of keeping ourselves and others safe in our PHSE (personal, social, health and economic) curriculum so it's fantastic to see Freddie putting his learning into action.

"This incident has reminded our whole school and further community of how important it is to look out for each other and the value of remaining alert at all times and speaking out." Gary Devonport, station manager at Adwick Fire Station, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, where Matt works, added that he was impressed by the father and son's actions.

He said: "I would like to commend Matt and his son Freddie for their quick thinking and, ultimately, life-changing action they took to save this woman's life. Matt is a credit to his watch, his station and South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue."

Douglas Whitbread