Girl almost drowns trying to help friend
Paramedics urge parents, teachers and the community to be more alert and try to prevent incidents like these.
A nine-year-old girl is fighting for her life in a hospital in Krugersdorp after a near-drowning incident at a nature park near Muldersdrift on Saturday (2 November) afternoon around 1pm.
Teachers that were present at the scene claim that the child went into the water to try and save a friend. It is alleged that she got trapped in the water as she was not able to swim.
Chris Botha, spokesperson of Netcare 911 says that when the paramedics arrived at the scene they found teachers performing CPR on the unresponsive child. Advanced life support paramedics placed the child on a ventilator and managed to stabilise and skilfully immobilise her, after which they airlifted her to a nearby hospital for specialised care.
Botha urges parents, teachers and the community to be more alert and try to prevent incidents like these.
“If children want to swim, they should be under the strict supervision of adults who are able to swim or they should be competent in water. Preferable they should swim in an area where life guards are more visible.
“As for adults they should not use alcohol when swimming and when at the beach, they should swim within the demarcated areas,” says Botha.
