Child resuscitated at Perran Sands Lucy A Beach Rescue lifeguard was patrolling between the red and yellow flags on a warm sunny day in Cornwall, when he spotted a woman waving frantically for help on the beach. Her young daughter had fallen into a tidal pool and had stopped breathingIt was a fairly busy day on Perran Sands beach on 20 June 2003 and Lifeguard Simon Crayfourd was monitoring around 20 bathers. He was also aware of what was happening on the beach around him. His sharp eyes spotted a woman waving around 50-75m from the water's edge. Simon actedquickly. He radioed Lifeguard Danny Morrison for help and medical equipment, and ran towards the woman.

Simon found a four-year-old girl, Lucy, unconscious by the side of a shallow pool.

Her family were on holiday and Lucy had been playing in the tidal pool when she had fallen over into water about 10cm deep. An alert member of the public had pulled the child out of the water.

Simon assessed the child's condition: 'Lucy was not breathing, but had a weak pulse. Her lips were blue and her eyes glazed over.'With no delay, Simon began to clear Lucy's airway.

Meanwhile Danny radioed Senior Lifeguard Mark Evans, then gathered the medical equipment and ran 150m from the Beach Rescue facility to the casualty. He reached Lucy soon after Simon. Mark, who had been checking the beach further down on a quad, arrived at about the same time.

Simon recalled: 'The response time was excellent, especially from Danny, who was on foot with the equipment.'When Mark arrived he took charge, as senior lifeguard.

Mark attempted two rescue breaths but Lucy's airway was still blocked. He rolled her onto her side to administer five firm back slaps and then tried two more rescue breaths. Lucy showed signs of life by coughing up fluid and starting to cry.

Simon says: 'I will never forget the moment Lucy took her first breath - that was an amazing feeling because I knew at that point we had saved her life.' Mark and Simon placed Lucy in the recovery position and Danny gave her oxygen. Mark held Lucy's hand and tried to comfort her. The lifeguards also reassured the parents.

The lifeguards had all received first responder training, a high level medical qualification for those who are first on the scene at an accident. Simon commented: 'The training allowed me to approach the situation with a clear mind and stopped me from making poor decisions due to panicking.' Greg Spray, Area Lifeguard Manager (Carrick), praised the actions of the lifeguards: 'Everything went right. They had the trauma of the resuscitation of a young child and a blockage to make things worse.

They were brilliant.' While Lucy was being treated, Lifeguard Supervisor Andy Thomas called 999 for the ambulance. Within 10 minutes of the call, the Cornwall Air Ambulance arrived and took Lucy and her mother to Treliske hospital Andy informed the Coastguard of the incident and then drove the rest of the family to the hospital.

A few days after the incident, the family returned to the beach with a healthy Lucy to thank the lifeguards. Lucy held Mark's hand and Marie recalled the last time that happened when he had just saved her life: 'I held Lucy's hand to reassure her when she came round after stopping breathing. It made me think back to that time.' Following this life saving work, the lifeguards turned up to work that weekend to find that the Beach Rescue facility had been broken into. The thieves stole four hand-held VHF radios and a pair of binoculars. It's a sobering thought to realise that if the burglars had stolen the equipment a couple of days earlier, their act could have had fatal consequences for Lucy..