Galway girl (10) helps save toddler from pool drowning

IRISH WATER Safety has paid tribute to a 10-year-old Galway girl who helped to save a small child from possible drowning on the Spanish island of Majorca.

Grace Dill from Clybaun Road in Galway was swimming with her family in a pool in Majorca last month when she discovered a toddler with his face down in the water. She held the child’s head out of the water, called for help, and a lifeguard administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

The child, a boy of between two and three years of age, was medically checked, and recovered well from his ordeal.

Grace’s father, Fergus Dill, said that the family were four days into their holiday abroad when the incident occurred. He and his wife Attracta, and his two daughters, Eva (12) and Grace were visiting the north of the island.

“Grace is into sport, and she swims competitively with the Sharks swimming club in Galway,” he said.

“She was about 25 metres away from us, and with a bit of a crowd around her, when her older sister Eva came over to us to tell us what had happened.”

“Basically, Grace thought she saw a doll at first and then realised it was a child. She realised his lips were blue, and managed to hold his head and call for help.

“A man on the pool deck lifted the child out, called the lifeguard – there were two on duty – and the lifeguard gave the child CPR. It took some minutes, but the little boy recovered, and the parents were referred to a medical centre nearby as a precaution.”

Mr Dill said the family later met the parents, from Scotland, of the boy Grace helped to rescue. “They told us what happened, and said their child owed his life to Grace. It was then Grace started talking a bit more about it.”

“The couple presented her with a chain with a dolphin shell, inscribed with her name and the date she saved their little boy – July 14th.”

Irish Water Safety (IWS) chief executive Lieut Cdr John Leech paid tribute to Grace yesterday, and said that she obviously knew what to do in the situation. He noted that aquatic safety was part of the primary school curriculum.

IWS has developed a primary aquatics water safety programme, which involves certifying young participants. It has also initiated a water safety tips website for children on the internet, www.aquaattack.ie