Helpers fight to save boy

By Elizabeth Lillis
A TEAM of passersby spent 20 minutes helping to revive a 15yearold Berwick boy after he got into difficulty at Lysterfield Lake Park on Saturday evening.
The boy was swimming with a mate, also aged 15, about 6.45pm when he became distressed and went under the water.
The friend and the boy’s father located the boy and pulled him from the lake about 10 minutes after he disappeared, according to police.
Constable Cliff Douce of Narre Warren Police said a nurse and others on hand assisted by carrying out CPR for about 20 minutes before an ambulance arrived.
Narre Warren South resident Jim Mihalopoulos was one of four people who assisted by performing CPR on the boy.
Mr Mihalopoulos said the boy was carried from the lake and then laid down at the top of the bay on the sand near a tree.
“The nurse led the way and another woman found some plastic for placing over the mouth,” he said.
Mr Mihalopoulos, who was at the park on a family picnic, assisted with compressions on the boy’s chest and checking for a pulse.
Another man in a blue polo shirt also assisted.
Mr Mihalopoulos, a merchant seaman on the Spirit of Tasmania, said he was able to assist because his job required that he be competent in firstaid.
“We were doing a three breathstofive technique,” he said.
Mr Mihalopoulos said that soon after ambulance officers arrived to take over, monitoring equipment was put on the boy and a pulse was felt for the first time.
“It was a like a miracle, after keeping on going with the CPR for so long,” he said.
Mr Mihalopoulos said those who assisted shook hands and went their own ways after the ambulance officers took over.
“It was a bit of a case of the adrenaline kicking in and everyone working as a team,” he said.
A practising Christian, Mr Mihalopoulos said he had prayed for the boy both during the incident and since.
The boy was transported by ambulance to the Royal Children’s Hospital and is in a critical condition.
He has been placed in an induced comma.
Mr Mihalopoulos said he was not after any glory from the near tragedy and was happy he had the skills to be able to assist.
He said he wanted to know about the 15yearold’s wellbeing and hoped to visit him in hospital.
Mr Mihalopoulos contacted the Gazette in an attempt to find a way to make contact with the boy’s family.
“I just wanted to visit and see he is OK. I want to pray for him,” he said.
The boy’s name is yet to be released.