NEAR DEATH: Teenage girl saves little niece (1) from drowning

An accidental drowning can happen in the blink of an eye, and sadly many families have lived through the tragedy of losing a child.

It almost happened to the Du Toit and Nordjé families of Uvongo last Friday.

But the quick thinking of 15-year-old Leané Nordjé, saved the life of her one-year-old niece Wilmaré du Toit, just two days before her first birthday. The grade 10 learner at Suid-Natal High recalled what transpired on that evening.

Leané had just walked into her house from a boxing training session, then her dad screamed.

“He had seen something floating in the pool and screamed, I turned around and my entire family ran outside. To our disbelief we saw little Wilmaré floating in the pool. My sister held her daughter’s lifeless body in her hands and ran into the house and placed her on the bed. When I felt Wilmaré, she was cold, white and her mouth was blue. I started cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) immediately and the entire family started panicking as to how this could have happened. With so much going on, I continued with CPR and Wilmaré opened her eyes but was still not breathing,” said Leané.

She continued (CPR) and managed to get the water out and soon afterwards it was relief as Wilmaré cried and regained consciousness. She was taken to hospital by paramedics, examined and discharged the same night.

“When Wilmaré was taken home she was weak and kept passing out. “My family called the paramedics who examined her again and gave her a clear bill of health. Her lungs sounded clear.”

Looking back at the tragedy the family believes that a door close to the swimming pool had either been left open or Wilmaré had somehow managed to open it. “She is a fast learner and possibly watched how we opened it.”

On Monday this week, little Wilmaré was taken for check-ups and x-rays, and doctors said she is fine and only has a slight lung infection.

Doctors said if Leané had not administrated CPR, the family could have lost their little angel.

Leané could not have been so brave and confident to administrate CPR had it not been for her school and Med-Evac paramedics who provided a first aid training course.

She and four fellow learners did a level one training course in January. She will soon complete a level two course.

“It was the scariest ordeal I have even been through. At all times, people have to pay attention to children. In an incident like this I call on people to remain calm and focus on the situation. I would also like to advise at least two family members in a household to do a course in first aid and CPR. It’s vital no matter where one is,” she said.

Leané moved to the South Coast two years ago from Middelburg, Mpumalanga and loves it here. She is also grateful to her teachers for providing the course as it certainly saved their family’s little princess.

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