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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
National
Ryan Carroll

Glasgow mum saves drowning toddler found face down in park pond

A mum saved a toddler from drowning in a pond at a Glasgow park.

Victoria Crane leapt into action when an elderly man spotted the little girl face down in the water. She used her first aid skills to treat the child and performed CPR until an ambulance crew arrived at the Victoria Park scene.

The drama unfolded when the mum-of-two celebrated her 27th birthday with her own children on Tuesday morning, the Daily Record reports.

READ MORE: Three baby deaths to be investigated after families suffer 'terrible losses'

She said: "It was a really traumatic experience. I didn't sleep all, I'm still shaken up by it.

"I just kept thinking, what if I hadn't been there? What if that man hadn't spotted her in the water?

"She must have been playing near the pond and fallen in. I know basic first aid from work so when the man started shouting I ran over and realised the girl was unresponsive.

"After she brought up the fluid I put her over my shoulder and started looking for the family, who were sitting at least 700 yards away, near toilets.

"They came running over and the baby was just limp and her eyes were rolling as she slipped in and out of consciousness."

Carer Victoria, from Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire, stripped the little girl's wet clothes off and wrapped her in the mother's jacket as a friend called for an ambulance.

She added: "Around five minutes before the ambulance arrived I couldn't feel her breathe anymore. I couldn't see her chest rising, so I started performing CPR.

"I pinched her nose and covered her mouth and gave her two breaths and 30 chest compressions with the heel of my hand. Then after a couple of rounds of that she started to make noise, like a groaning - and that's when the ambulance arrived with the oxygen.

"The whole time I was trying to support the girl's mum, she was really panicked."

The child was given oxygen at the scene for 10 minutes before being taken away in the ambulance, but not before she let out an almighty cry.

Victoria added: "Her cry was the most relieving sound. I knew she was ok.

"Then the ambulance crew came up to speak to me. They told me she was going to be okay and said I'd saved her life.

"That was an amazing feeling. The area of the park we were in wasn't busy, it was like I was in the right place at the right time."

Victoria has urged others to learn basic first aid following the frightening experience.

She said: "I really do feel like she wouldn't have pulled through if I hadn't been there. I've done basic first aid training but I never ever thought I would have to use it this this.

"It's a life skill that everyone should have. Just having that basic set of skills like putting them in the recovery position, checking their airways and just staying calm in that kind of situation is really important.

"First aid courses really aren't expensive and I want people to hear this story and understand they could also save somebody's life with these skills."

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