Off-duty paramedic saves drowning girl on TUI holiday as lifeguards 'nowhere'
A Brit family have shared the terrifying moment that they spotted their niece's "shadow" in a hotel pool after she started to drown.
Kalie Sharp, 44, a special needs assistant and her husband Oscar Sharp, 51, a warranty administrator, desperately searched for a lifeguard to help Emily Wills, 10, at the La Palma Princess Hotel, Fuencaliente in the Canary Islands. Luckily an off-duty Brit paramedic heard their cries, rushed to the scene and successfully saved the 10-year-old.
The couple were on holiday with Emily and their nephew Mason Wills, 8, who they live with as a family. On August 31, the last day of their trip, the entire family was making the most of their last few hours before Emily, who is a "confident swimmer", suddenly disappeared. They were unable to see her until they saw a shadow under the water. Emily was pulled out of the pool by Kalie and found she wasn’t breathing. Paramedic Gemma Louise Brown, 37, jumped forward and saved Emily by giving her CPR and making the one oxygen tank last until paramedics arrived. Emily almost drowned in the pool and had a secondary cardiocirculatory arrest and pneumonitis. She was eventually returned to the UK and after a month, she was diagnosed with epilepsy.
Oscar, Emily and Mason were in the pool the entire holiday (@mediadrumimages / kaliesharp)
Emily was rushed to hospital abroad (@mediadrumimages / kaliesharp)Speaking about the ordeal, Kalie said: "Family time is important as we don't have much family. After the holiday being delayed due to Covid for three years we were so happy to finally enjoy our holiday. However, the holiday went wrong on the last day. One moment she was swimming, the next we couldn’t see her. We visually searched the pool and next we saw a shadow under the water. It happened so quickly. It was my baby. I pulled her out and she wasn’t breathing. Lifeguards took forever to be seen, even with all the shouting."
She added: "Thankfully a UK paramedic, Gemma, who was on holiday with her family at the same resort heard our cries for help and rushed over without hesitation to see if she could help. She saved my baby and worked with the half broken equipment the life guards clearly were not trained on how to use, when they did finally show up.”
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Kalie described the problems with the equipment and the hotel's procedures. “They only had one oxygen tank to cover all the pools, and no backup”, said Kalie. This had to be used sparingly to ensure it lasted until the ambulance arrived, as she needed full oxygen but this was not possible as the tank would only last 15 minutes. The portable suction unit was also missing its main vital part so was not able to be used, which is used to suck out water.
The incident took place at the La Palma Princess Hotel (@mediadrumimages / kaliesharp)“She was then transferred by helicopter from Hospital General de La Palma for eight hours to Hospital Universitario in Tenerife, as the hospital was concerned about the water on her lungs and they were not equipped for it," said Kalie.
"Emily was placed in intensive care for three days to have high oxygen support as she had a large amount of water on her lungs. The hospital ran many tests to try to find out why she became unconscious in the pool that resulted in her drowning, these included MRI, X-rays, EEG, and blood tests."
Kalie said the support she received from TUI and the hotel was minimal. "Oscar stayed in the hospital with Emily while she was being treated, as he speaks Spanish”, said Kalie. "I was told that myself and my son would not be covered by insurance and had two hours to pack until the coach to the airport arrived, so we had to leave because we didn’t have the money to stay, since we’d have to pay everything first and then claim.
“The incident happened on the last day, and once Emily was transferred to the hospital, I spoke to the rep and was told insurance would only cover one parent. I was told the best thing I could do was to get the flight and sort everything else out in the UK. We didn’t know if we could even claim the money back. Tui had offered us a free flight home, but there were none available for anytime while she was in hospital and up to a week from being discharged.”
Kalie said she spotted Emily's shadow in the water (@mediadrumimages / kaliesharp)Emily was not allowed to fly until they were sure she was safe to fly home. "Emily was referred to local hospital for follow up tests, a month after she fainted and stayed in hospital for four days and had lots of tests, which found her to have epilepsy and a high reason for her sudden unconsciousness in the pool, since she had been in the pool all week and is a strong confident swimmer”, said Kalie.
“This was our second holiday abroad in the same year, booked both with Tui. The holiday itself was pleasant, but the support from the hotel and Tui after the incident was shocking, not to mention the life guards not being present and missing equipment. If it wasn't for holiday makers jumping in to help us and a London paramedic, Gemma, for giving her CPR and making the one oxygen tank last until paramedics arrived, she wouldn’t have survived.”
Emily was placed in intensive care so she could have high oxygen support (@mediadrumimages / kaliesharp)Kalie has since kept in contact with Gemma, the paramedic who saved Emily’s life, and she has also reached out to TUI to make changes. “The paramedic saved her and we will be meeting with her at the beginning of December”, said Kalie. "I messaged the CEO directly on LinkedIn, which pushed the complaints. But I was told by TUI that the hotel had an independent investigation four weeks after the event and met Spanish requirements, and I wasn’t allowed to see this."
TUI sent a response to Kalie on October 11 with the following: “This audit reviewed things including but not limited to, points such as lifeguard training, safety signs around the pool regarding supervision of children and the medical equipment within the hotel. This said, we have taken your feedback seriously and it has also been shared and discussed at length with the hotel manager. Whilst the hotel does meet local standards, they will continue to review if any further positive changes can be made to enhance their processes further.”
Emily luckily does not have long term physical impacts, although the family have been impacted mentally. Her aunt continued: "But Emily has nightmares and high anxiety around water. This incident has had an impact on us all, being separated in different countries, as well as knowing the harsh reality that Emily would not be here today if it wasn't for Gemma doing what she does as a job in the UK, there aren’t enough words to describe how thankful we are for her help.”
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