British boy awarded medal for saving drowning toddler at Florida hotel

Updated




An eight-year-old British boy has been honoured with a bravery award after helping to save a two-year-old girl from drowning at a hotel pool in Florida.

Ethan Temmen was on holiday in Florida with his family when he saw the girl floating facedown in the swimming pool at Wyndham Lake Buena Vista Resort at 10pm on Thursday.

He jumped in and pulled her to the side of the pool to safety. A bystander called Karli Godwin Rosa administered CPR on the girl before she was taken to the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, where she is in a stable condition, reports the Sun Sentinel.

Ethan was given a Citation Award Medal by the Orange County Sheriff for his quick-thinking and courage.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said: "I got really scared and decided to help her. I'm just really amazed that she is still alive."

Ethan's mum Susan Thompson told the Lancashire Evening Post: "Ethan got the child's head out of the water as quick as he could. She wasn't breathing and there was no pulse.

"Ethan's older brother Aaron ran to get help, then people on the side of the pool did CPR and she came to. They kept her in hospital overnight, but she's totally fine now. I'm incredibly proud of both my boys.

"It was brilliant the way they acted in a real life emergency. If they hadn't done what they did the little girl could have died."

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