NEATH: The nurses who kicked off their heels at a wedding and saved a drowning toddler’s life

Two Neath nurses have been nominated for a bravery award after running out of a wedding, still in their dresses, to save the life of a three-year-old boy found unresponsive in a pond.

Kelsey Pirie and Emma Brown, who work at Cimla Hospital, were among the guests at Bryngarw House near Bridgend when shouting broke out in the adjacent country park.

They kicked off their heels and ran.

“Somebody started screaming for help and so we ran towards them, kicking off our shoes on the way, without really knowing what was happening,” said Emma, 38. “When we got about half way there we realised it was a little boy.”

At the pond they met Stefan Johnson, who had pulled the toddler from the water and started CPR. The nurses took over immediately as a crowd grew around them.

“We don’t know how long he had been in the water but he was unresponsive and there were no signs of life. He had no pulse,” said Kelsey. “I started doing chest compressions and Emma started giving rescue breaths.”

Both are adult care nurses. Neither had ever performed CPR on a child.

“It was difficult due to the amount of water, but after about five minutes he started breathing,” Emma said.

By then ambulances and Wales Air Ambulance had arrived, and the pair handed the boy over to paramedics, picked themselves up, and went back to the wedding.

“All the guests had been watching it all unfold,” Kelsey said. “The bride had seen it going on from the bridal suite. Although she didn’t know exactly what was happening, she just knew there was an emergency.”

“We didn’t really have a chance to process it; we had to snap back into wedding mode,” Emma added. “I’m so thankful it was all ok because if it had been a different outcome I doubt the wedding would have gone ahead. As it was, it was just delayed for a short time.”

“If it had happened 10 minutes later we would have been inside for the ceremony and might not ever have known what was going on.”

The three-year-old, from Newport, was taken to hospital in a stable condition. South Wales Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Emma and Kelsey, along with Mr Johnson, have now been nominated by South Wales Police for a Royal Humane Society bravery award for saving the boy’s life.

“The experience will stay with us forever I think,” Emma said. “But because it was a positive outcome, hopefully it will not weigh too heavily.”