8.45am update: Former Nationals candidate Marty Corboy has expressed his relief after his two-year-old son was rescued from a pool in Wangaratta.
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Mr Corboy took to Facebook on Thursday night after his son, Nicky, was dragged unconscious and not breathing at the family-run Moore Than Swimming pool in Mason Street.
“We're the lucky ones today,” he wrote.
“We should be one down after Nicky was found in the water at our local pool after approx 2 min under.
“Blessed that so many were on hand to help him out.
“Not responsive, no pulse and not breathing.
“Prayers for Annelisa & the kids who are in a bit of shock.
“Many thanks to Lionel Moore who worked on him whilst the ambos came. At hospital overnight now for observation.”
7pm Thursday: A two-year-old boy has had a lucky escape after being dragged unconscious and not breathing from a pool in Wangaratta.
The toddler is expected to make a full recovery after Thursday's near-drowning.
The young boy had been with his mother at the family-run Moore Than Swimming pool in Mason Street for a party.
Sergeant Martin Torpey said his mother had only lost sight of him for 20 to 30 seconds, and he fell into a baby pool that was about a foot deep about 5pm.
“She saw him in there and dragged him out,” he said.
“He was in there for less than a minute.
“The child wasn't breathing and the mother and staff have performed CPR, clearing his airways, and he started breathing. He became conscious within a couple of minutes and was taken away by paramedics to Northeast Health Wangaratta .
“He remains there for observation.”
Everyone involved was extremely happy with the outcome, Sergeant Torpey said.
Paramedics and police were only a few hundred metres away when the call come through.
“Officers were there within 25 seconds,” he said.
“The ambulance station is probably 600 metres away and the paramedics arrived within probably two minutes.
“It just shows how important CPR is.
“If you're a parent and you get a chance to do lessons, it can be vital.
“The mum, if she hadn't known how to clear the airways quickly, it could have really delayed the resuscitation of the child.
“Clearing the airways and putting the child in the correct position was vital for a successful outcome on this occasion.”
The incident came amid a horror run of drownings in NSW, with 17 lives lost in the state during the festive period, including a death in Wagga.
There have also been near-drownings in recent weeks and months in Albury, Wodonga, Everton and Harrietville, where people have been pulled unconscious from water.
Sergeant Torpey said police would take statements from witnesses, the pool manager and lifeguard following Thursday afternoon's incident.
“We will be seeing if there are any learnings that can be made from that,” he said.