Drifted into the pool

Nine-year-old rescues motionless ten-year-old in outdoor pool

Lifesaver: nine-year-old Nefes from Garsten with her dad Rifat (34).(Bild: Hütmeyer Gerhard)

An unbelievable drama took place on Monday afternoon at the Bad Hall-Pfarrkirchen outdoor pool - but with a happy ending! A ten-year-old girl had floated under water there after suffering a health attack. However, nine-year-old Nefes became aware of this and reacted promptly, setting the rescue chain in motion.

Nefes from Garsten is only nine years old, but has been a heroine since Monday! The primary school pupil became a lifesaver in the Bad Hall-Pfarrkirchen outdoor pool. She is responsible for preventing a ten-year-old German girl from drowning.

"I was in the pool with my daughter. Nefes had her diving goggles on and went under", says her dad Rifat Saricicek (34). But suddenly the nine-year-old was all excited. "Another girl was floating upside down in the water. I didn't think anything of it myself at first because I thought this child was diving too."

I'm very proud of the way my daughter handled the situation. She immediately recognized that the other girl's life was in acute danger.

Papa Rifat Saricicek (34)

Epileptic seizure
But Nefes recognized the seriousness of the situation and pointed out to her dad that the ten-year-old wasn't moving. And indeed: the German girl had apparently suffered an epileptic seizure unnoticed and had sunk into the water.

"Children sometimes have a more watchful eye. I immediately lifted the other girl's head out of the water, took her to the edge of the pool and shouted to the lifeguard," says Saricicek.

Mouth cavity cleared
Together, they lifted the motionless child out of the water, turned her over and the lifeguard opened her mouth. "She then started breathing again and circulation started." 

The ten-year-old was flown to the Kepler University Hospital in Linz and is probably out of danger. Despite the conciliatory outcome, the incident was very stressful for Nefes. Saricicek: "She can't get the images of the motionless child out of her head."