Coventry schoolboy reunited with lifeguard who saved his life - The Coventry Observer

Coventry schoolboy reunited with lifeguard who saved his life

Coventry Editorial 7th Sep, 2015 Updated: 28th Oct, 2016   0

AN ASPIRING Coventry paramedic has been reunited with the schoolboy whose life she saved at a Canley leisure centre.

Kate Bushen, who works as a lifeguard at Xcel Leisure Centre, was thanked in person by six-year-old Louie Carter who she resuscitated after he got into difficulty during a Swim Fun activity session.

Kate, who is set to begin a paramedic training course at Coventry University this September, put her lifesaving skills into action when she notices Louie, who suffers from cerebral palsy, was underwater.

Helped by staff member Ryan Quinn to pull Louie out the water, 21-year-old Kate said her training ‘kicked in’ as she sounded the alarm and checked the youngster was breathing before performing CPR.




She added: “All I remember thinking was please breathe, please breathe.

“It all happened within a couple of minutes.


“Martin the centre manager took over the CPR and I remember I was holding his hand when he started to cry.

“It was a real team effort and such a relief and an immense feeling to know that we had done it and that he was breathing.”

The rescue was also made more difficult for the leisure centre staff on account of the personal connection they shared with the well-known ‘little character’ Louie.

And despite it being Kate’s first time responding to such a serious incident, she said it has spurned her on to become a fully-qualified paramedic.

Kate added: “It is reassuring to know that I can respond in the right way to a situation like this, although I think it may take a bit of time to sink in that we saved someone’s life.

“It was really emotional seeing Louie again but I’m really happy to see that he has made a full recovery and has his lovely character back again.”

Louie and his mum, Sian, returnred to the Xcel Leisure Centre, which is managed by Coventry Sports Foundation, to thank staff for their support and present Kate with a bunch of flowers.

Speaking about the ordeal, Sian said: “I can’t even describe what it was like to get that phone call, I couldn’t get to the centre quick enough but all of the staff have been great and couldn’t have done a better job.

“Louie has made me really proud – he even went by the side of the pool today and was fine.

“He will be going back to school in about a week and I’m sure he will be telling the story to all of his friends.”

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