Shropshire pool lifeguard Kelli wins national award for saving swimmer's life

Kelli Smith dived into the pool at Derwen College, near Oswestry, when she spotted the student, renowned as a strong swimmer, lying at the bottom.

Unconscious and not breathing, the man was resuscitated by Kelli and other staff before going to hospital. He has since made a full recovery.

Kelli has now been awarded a Royal Humane Society resuscitation certificate for her swift action, which the society says saved the man's life.

The 35-year-old lifeguard, from Gobowen, works at the college for students with learning difficulties and disabilities.

She said the incident happened one afternoon in November last year.

"I was with a group of 10 students. I noticed one of them at the bottom of the pool but as he was a strong swimmer, who had already swam 25 lengths, I moved to the edge of the pool to check he wasn't just swimming under water," she said.

"As soon as I saw he wasn't moving I dived in. When I got to him I could see he was blue and pulled him up to the surface and got him out with help. He was extremely heavy.

"I knew I only had three minutes before he was in real serious trouble so breathed into his mouth and started CPR. He started to cough and breath again.

"I went into automatic - people say I acted like a robot. I was just doing my job, doing what I have been taught by instructor, Carol Cheetham.

"It was horrendous and something I never want to experience again. No one should every underestimate how easy it can be to get into difficulties in the water."

Dick Wilkinson, secretary of the Royal Humane Society, said: "Put simply, Kelli was the right person in the right place at the right time. Thanks to her vigilance as a lifeguard the man could only have been under the water for a matter of seconds before she spotted him and she acted immediately in going in after him.

"Speed is of the essence in situations like this and Kelli and others who helped her acted with all possible speed. She richly deserves the award she is to receive. There is no doubt that it was thanks to her that he was brought back from the very brink of death."