A nurse, surf lifesaver and mother who helped save the life of a girl who nearly drowned is urging everyone to learn CPR.
Northlander Odette Rowan is sharing her story for Monday’s World Drowning Prevention Day, in the hope more people will be able and willing to help save a life.
New figures released by Water Safety New Zealand on Monday show 90 people drowned in 2021, the worst year for drowning fatalities in a decade. There have also been 51 preventable drownings so far in 2022.
Rowan believes a 5-year-old girl, who was found motionless at the bottom of a pool, could have also died in 2021 if resuscitation had not been administered instantly.
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The incident happened at a resort-style pool in Taupō in April 2021.
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Odette Rowan – a Mangawhai nurse, surf lifesaver and mother – encourages everyone to learn basic life-saving skills.
Rowan is a Whangārei Hospital emergency department nurse and Mangwhai Heads Surf Life Saving member.
However, she said she was “just some random person at a swimming pool who knew CPR” and urged others to learn the technique.
“I was relaxing in the spa area with my kids when I heard screaming. I turned around and saw a man carrying a floppy, blue child from the water.
“A woman was fixed to the spot, screaming. The child looked dead.”
Rowan said she instructed her children to stay where they were, yelled at a couple to call 111 and assessed the girl, only to find she was not breathing.
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Odette Rowan is urging others to learn CPR after a terrifying incident at a Taupō pool. (File photo)
“I started chest compressions. I could have been pressing on my daughter’s chest. They were the same size. They had the same blonde curls. This could not be happening.”
The man, who turned out to be the girl’s dad, helped by giving the child two breaths on Rowan’s instruction.
“He gave the breaths and I continued on compressions. Two more breaths. Then she coughed, vomited and cried,” she said.
“Relief washed over me at that cry … As I helped get the little girl’s swimsuit off to get her warm – it was a freezing Taupō morning – the reality of the situation started sinking in.”
The girl was taken to hospital and made a full recovery but Rowan was shaken with the reality she could have died.
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Children generally love the water but it can be deadly, with six children aged 14 and under drowning so far in 2022, according to Water Safety NZ figures. (File photo)
She has since been in touch with the girl’s parents, who said each thought the other parent was watching the 5-year-old.
The girl was found by her 7-year-old brother on the bottom of the pool and he heroically pulled her up, she said.
The situation could have been different if Rowan and the girl’s father did not know CPR.
“Use this winter to either learn or refresh basic life support,” she urged.
“You might be the random person who helps to save a life.”
Water Safety New Zealand chief executive Daniel Gerrard said 2021’s official drowning statistics were a “national disgrace” and the worst year for drownings since 2011, when 91 people drowned.
The figure of 90 drowning deaths was an increase on the provisional figure of 74, released in January.
Of those who died, 76 were men and 14 women.
“Our drowning toll is something every New Zealander should see as a national disgrace and one we all have a responsibility to address. We all need to make better decisions around water,” Gerrard said.
“Remember the water safety code: Be prepared, watch out for yourself and each other, be aware of the dangers and know your limits.”
