HERO: 10-year-old British boy saves the life of youngster in holiday pool

A 10-year-old boy, on holiday with his family, has been praised after he spotted another boy, six years his junior, at the bottom of a pool before dragging him out to safety.

The incident happened on Monday, June 5 when Lewis Smith, 10, of Hedon, Hull was on holiday with his family in Belek, near Antalya in Turkey, writes the Hull Daily Mail, June 15.

While swimming in the hotel pool, he noticed something laying at the bottom. At first, he believed it to be some rubbish but to his shock realised it was another child.

The lifeless child happened to be another British boy. Lewis with the help of his dad and others managed to pull the four-year-old up and out of the pool.

Luckily Lewis’ dad Craig, who is a firefighter and is trained in CPR, managed to revive the boy before he was rushed to hospital.

Lewis and his family are now back at home, but have been in touch with the other family, with regular health updates on the youngster.

Dad Craig takes up the story: ‘We were by the pool, and it was a normal day. I had gone back [to] my room briefly which was close by.

‘My wife Ellie was with our three boys at the pool when Lewis shouted he had found something at the bottom. He thought it was a piece of rubbish or something initially but as he dived under, he realised it was a child.

‘Lewis managed to pull the child up while Ellie and others pulled the young boy out. As a firefighter, I am trained in CPR, so they shouted for me and I ran out.

‘The boy was medically dead at this point. He had no pulse and wasn’t breathing. But after giving the boy CPR we managed to get the water out of his lungs and then he was coughing and breathing.’

It was reported that the young boy, who has not been named, was admitted to hospital and placed into an induced coma for two days.

Despite still being in hospital the young boy seems to be on the mend. The family are believed to be from South Yorkshire and have sent the Smith family a video of the little boy recovering and managing to eat breakfast.

Proud father Craig said: ‘I am ecstatic by what Lewis did. How a 10-year-old managed to pull out a child like that is unreal. I could not be more proud of him.’

He went on to explain that: ‘People at the hotel even had a collection for him to thank him. Lewis was a hero that day.’

The incident has raised safety concerns about the hotel as reportedly there was no lifeguard present at the poolside, and it seems there was no available staff who were proficient in CPR.

Craig concluded: ‘It was lucky I was trained in CPR otherwise I’m not sure whether the boy would be here now.’