By Michael Newhouse
WHAT could have been a tragic end to 2006 for a young Hillside family became one of the feel good stories of the new year, after some quick thinking by a father and police brought a child back from the brink of death.
Last Tuesday, two-year-old Barcell Jalloul Ellisa came face-to-face with the two police officers who helped save his life after he was found unconscious in the family’s above ground swimming pool just before 3pm on 30 December.
Constables Craig Wastell and Kylie Hingley, from Caroline Springs police station, who had rushed to the scene as soon as they heard reports of the drowning over the radio, were on hand to greet young Barcell as he came out of the Royal Children’s Hospital.
“We didn’t have really much time to think,” Constable Hingley said last week, recalling the frantic struggle to get Barcell to breathe again.
“We heard him starting to breathe, so we were happy with that, and then the ambulance arrived.
“This is our first attempt at CPR, so it’s a great outcome,” she said.
Doctors estimate Barcell had been in the pool between two and three minutes before he was pulled out, but could have been there up to five minutes.
When police arrived the boy’s father, Omer, was busy trying to resuscitate Barcell using only the knowledge he’d picked up from watching hospital dramas on television.
“I don’t know how to do CPR, but from what I’ve seen on television, (I) just secured his mouth and blocked his nose,” Omer said.
Asked how his son was holding up after his extended stay in hospital, which included three days in intensive care, Omer said Barcell was just happy to go home.
“He’s great, he’s perfect. (We’re) so glad we’ve got him back,” he said.
Pediatrician at the Royal Children’s Hospital Dr Daryl Efron warned parents to be extra vigilant when their children were playing around water.
“Small children just need to be very very closely supervised around any body of water, swimming pools, dams particularly,” warned Dr Efron.
The police and Omer said they were still not sure how Barcell made it into the pool in the first place.
Omer said the family pool was secured with a fence, and that he had taught his two older children how to swim.
“I’d like to tell all the parents to be careful because you can’t leave them, you can’t leave them alone for a second,” Omer said.
“To see him happy with his parents and the delight and relief that his parents have seeing him get back to normal is a very nice outcome,” Dr Efron said.
