Ned Lunnon-Wood, 15, saved a lifeguard who had lost consciousness at Wild Wadi Waterpark this week. Ravindranath K / The National

Tourist, 15, goes to lifeguard's rescue in Dubai

Ramola Talwar Badam

August 18, 2012

August 18, 2012

DUBAI // A 15-year-old tourist turned hero when he rescued a lifeguard at Wild Wadi Waterpark who had passed out on duty.

The drama unfolded as Ned Lunnon-Wood, from the UK, was with his father Mark and brother Jack at the FlowRider surfing simulator on Wednesday.
The schoolboy saw the female lifeguard lose consciousness and fall down the water chute while he was waiting for his turn on the machine.
"We were talking to her and she said she felt light-headed and was really hot," said Ned.
"As I looked around to wait for the thumbs-up for it to be my turn I saw she wasn't there, then I looked and she was sliding down the chute.
"I didn't know if she was messing around for a few seconds, then I realised she wasn't."
When he was just 10, Ned took a first-aid course while training as a competitive swimmer, so he knew what to do as she lay face down in the water, while the other lifeguards were turning off the flow.
He put his arms under hers and pulled her face from the water, as his father shouted instructions from the viewing platform above.
Ned said he tried to speak to her but she was unresponsive and her body was limp.
Soon after, two of the park's 130 lifeguards came to administer CPR and check her vital signs.
The lifeguard, who had not eaten properly that day after dental work, was not injured by the fall.
"It is very unfortunate this happened but we have very strict safety standards, and our lifeguards go through high levels of training and simulated drowning-safety procedures," said Katie King, PR manager at the Jumeirah Group, which owns Wild Wadi.
"The lifeguard did not tell her supervisor that she had not eaten. We didn't know about it or she would have been given office work and not placed outside."
Ms King said Ned's actions were "normal human instinct to help a person who has fallen and help them to safety".
"We have thanked him and the family will be treated very well when they return in December," she said.
Experts said there was a good chance the woman would have drowned if she had not been attended to immediately.
"If she was knocked unconscious and face down in water, even a couple of inches of water is enough," said Carl de Villiers, who has surfed in Dubai for the past six years and owns Surf Shop Arabia.
"There is a good chance she would have drowned because the water could have gone into her lungs.
"I've surfed there and the machine is very safe, but face down a person can even drown in a bathtub. This does happen."
rtalwar@thenational.ae
mswan@thenational.ae