'Lifeless' 3-year-old 'brought back to life' by heroes after drowning in pond

A father-of-two rescued a toddler from drowning before two nurses brought the boy back to life at a Welsh beauty spot.

Stefan Johnson, who jumped into the water, had been on a refresher life-saving course just three weeks before the incident at Bryngarw Country Park in Bridgend.

And nurses Emma Brown and Kelsey Pirie were about to go into a wedding ceremony when they jumped into action.

CPR was performed on the three-year-old until an ambulance arrived and the boy, from Newport, was hospitalised where his condition is described as stable.

Stefan, with his partner Sophie and their three-year-old son George and three-month-old daughter Nora, had decided to take a different route around the park than usual, when Sophie spotted what she thought was a child in the pond.

Stefan said he initially thought the toddler was swimming, before the reality "clicked" and he jumped in and pulled the him out.

"I was in the zone. It's like I had to stay calm, to focus," he explained, adding he then struggled to find a pulse on the boy.

Sophie started to shout for help, while he began CPR.

"You're just thinking, this is real now, I've got to just crack on," said the 35-year-old who works as a support worker.

"It's completely different to having a dummy in front of you," he added, referring to the training he had just a few weeks earlier.

Sophie's calls were eventually heard by people on the terrace of Bryngarw House, who were waiting to go into a wedding, including nurses Emma Brown, 38, and Kelsey Pirie, 35.

Emma said when they realised the seriousness of the situation they "threw off" their heels and ran to the scene, where they found the boy " unresponsive, with no signs of life at all".

They took over CPR but said they were "panicking" as, after around five minutes, there was no change and a growing crowd of family members and wedding guests gathered around them watching.

"We were not in work mode at all, there was no crash team to call and no emergency buzzer to pull. Instinct kind of kicked in," said Kelsey, who works with Emma as a nurse caring for adults, with no previous experience of doing CPR on children.

"Literally he came back to life when the paramedics pulled up. The timing of it all was crazy," said Emma, adding if the boy had been found ten minutes later they would have already been inside watching the wedding.

Stefan said he was "relieved" when he eventually saw the boy's chest move up and down, but added the situation had replayed in his mind, including in dreams where he was not able to save the little boy.

"When I'm driving on my own, I see his face floating in the water, I see his body on the pavement," he said.

He said he hoped speaking about what happened would encourage more people to take up courses offering basic lifesaving skills.

Emma and Kelsey also said the incident would not be forgotten soon.

"This is going to stay with us forever but at least it had a positive outcome," said Emma, adding they watched their friend get married that afternoon after a short postponement to the wedding.

South Wales Police said the three year-old boy from Newport was taken to hospital in a stable condition and that an investigation into what happened was underway.