IT’S not often kids come to the rescue of their babysitter but that’s what happened when Kinross resident Michael McPherson was saved from drowning by the children he was looking after.
Michael (18) picked up family friends and Butler residents Gemma (11) and Darren (9) Lauder on the afternoon of Saturday, January 23, to baby-sit them.
“I’d just come back from playing tennis in the sun for four hours and I was hot and tired so we jumped in the pool,” he said.
“The next thing I remember was waking up on Sunday in hospital.
“I don’t remember it, but after I got in the pool I tried to break my record of swimming laps under water.”
Gemma said after Michael had done his eighth lap, he stopped swimming and sank to the bottom.
“At first we thought he might be playing a joke, but then we saw his lips had turned blue and his ears had gone purple,” she said.
“I grabbed the strap on his goggles and tried to drag him up.
“Then I had to go up and take a breath, and I started screaming.
“Finally I got him to the side of the pool and got his head out of the water and Darren put his arm over the side of the pool so he wouldn’t slip back in.”
Sandra Donaldson, who lives next door and works as a nurse, heard Gemma screaming and ran to help.
“When I got to the pool, I got Michael out of the water with the help of another neighbour and put him in the recovery position before calling the ambulance,” she said.
Michael was taken by ambulance to Joondalup Health Campus where he was placed in an induced coma.
Michael’s mother Lorraine said when she got to the hospital, the doctors told her to prepare for the worst.
“If they had left him in the pool and ran to get help, it probably would have been too late,” she said.
“I will never be able to thank Gemma and Darren enough.
“How they reacted was unbelievable, just amazing.”
Michael said words couldn’t express his gratitude to Gemma and Darren.
“Since it happened I’ve just been thinking ‘thank God I survived’, because I hate to think what effect it would have had on them if I didn’t,” he said.
“I won’t ever be able to repay them, but I will be babysitting them for free for the next few months.”