Sekani survives near drowning thanks to his mom doing CPR

Emergency operator helps mom save toddler, Sekani's life

"When I got to them, Sekani was lying lifeless next to the pool. He was not breathing, and I couldn't feel a heartbeat." Their neighbour's daughter had pulled Sekani out of the pool when she saw him lying in the water and started screaming for help. No one knows how long Sekani had been in the water for.

"I started seeing signs of life, thanks to my CPR"

Thandokazi, fuelled by adrenalin, started CPR on Sekani. As a mining engineer, Thandokazi had attended CPR training. "I've never had to perform CPR on a person before, let alone my own son, a young child. It was a frightening situation and I wasn't sure if I had to adjust the pressure of the chest compressions for a child but I carried on."

"I eventually started seeing signs of life - a little bit of breathing - thanks to my performing the CPR."

A quick-thinking neighbour, who had heard the screams, phoned Netcare 911's emergency call centre. "The Netcare 911 operator helped by counting the chest compressions for me. They stayed on the phone until the paramedics arrived," she adds.

• CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) is a lifesaving first aid technique that can be used if someone's breathing or heartbeat has stopped. It involves giving hard and fast chest compressions and rescue breaths. Read the Mayo Clinic's explanation of adult and child CPR to find out more about the basics of CPR. Consider doing a first aid course for a more thorough understanding

"The paramedics tried to stabilise Sekani, but his oxygen levels weren't recovering. Because the time of day would have put an ambulance into rush-hour traffic, they decided to airlift him to hospital to avoid getting stuck on the road," adds Thandokazi.

Sekani was transported by helicopter from his home in Pretoria East to Netcare Waterfall City Hospital in Midrand where a team of doctors was waiting for him.

Sekani spends a month in hospital

What followed was a tense month for the family. "Sekani was put into a medically induced coma and his body temperature was lowered to preserve brain function. I prayed for Sekani 24 hours a day," adds his mom.

Thandokazi and her husband stayed at a hotel close to the hospital, so that they could be with Sekani at a moment's notice.

"It was heart wrenching when Sekani started gaining consciousness. He cried whenever he saw us, but because he was still covered in tubes, the crying would make him choke. We used to sneak into his room and sit there without waking him up because we wanted to be close to him but didn't want him to get so distressed."

Just before Sekani was due to be discharged, he suffered a setback. "Sekani was shivering like a leaf and I could see that he was struggling to breath. An X-ray showed excess mucous in Sekani's lungs - a complication of the drowning - which had to be drained in theatre. Sekani was heavily sedated and put back on a ventilator. That broke my heart, because before that Sekani had been running around the ICU ward and was ready to go home."

A few days later, Sekani was taken off the sedatives and moved to a high care ward before being discharged.

Sekani is still the same loving, friendly boy

"Sekani seems to have made a full recovery. He still needs to go for an MRI in 2024 to confirm that there is no long-term brain damage. But he recognises everyone and does the same things he used to do before the drowning. He's still the same loving, friendly boy - his personality hasn't changed," says a relieved Thandokazi. 

"Thanks to our Discovery Health Medical Scheme (DHMS) cover, Sekani had access to the option of being airlifted, and could get the treatment he needed as soon as possible. And someone from DHMS phoned to offer us emotional and psychological counselling. We are grateful that we are members of the Scheme," concludes Thandokazi.

• DHMS also offers cover after certain traumatic events, as well as counselling support. Find out more about Discovery Trauma Support.

Tips to prevent children from drowning

Thandokazi says: "It is vital it is that every capable person in a household should learn CPR, regularly refresh their knowledge on what to do in an emergency, and ensure everyone takes water safety seriously."

Drowning can happen to anyone, anywhere that there is access to water. Drowning is often silent as the person may be under water or have their airway blocked by water, making them unable to shout or call out for help.

Children who cannot swim can drown in as little as 20 seconds.

Use these practical tips to prevent children falling into water and drowning:

• Children can drown in as little as 2.5cm of water. Never leave little children or those who cannot swim unattended near toilets, bathtubs, water features, fish tanks, pet water bowls and buckets or any other body of open water.
• Never leave children alone near water - they must always be supervised by a responsible adult.
• Stay within arm's length of children under age four when they are around water
• Don't be drink, take drugs or be distracted by work, phone calls, technology or anything else while you are supervising children around water.
• Put fences around ponds, pools and water storage containers. If your pool is not fenced ensure that there is a well-maintained pool net over it and put it back on immediately after swimming.
• Don't ever rely on flotation devices to keep children safe in the water, or allow children to use these devices unsupervised.
• Teach children to swim as soon as possible.
• Keep children away from pool or jacuzzi drains, as their hair or limbs could become trapped in the suction preventing them from coming up for air if they are under water.

Ensure that you are prepared to deal with a near-drowning:

• Learn how to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and ensure that you refresh your knowledge on the techniques regularly so that you always know what to do.
• Use the 'Emergency assist' function in the Discovery Health App to get help during any medical emergency. Find out more in the section that follows.

Get emergency medical assistance with Emergency assist on the Discovery Health App

The Discovery Health App makes reaching emergency care as simple as possible for you, your loved ones and others you may happen to be with at the time of the emergency (whether they are Discovery Health Medical Scheme members or not).

In an emergency, all you need to do is:

• Open the Discovery Health App. You don't even need to log in.
• Click the red "Emergency assist" button on the log in screen to phone an emergency operator.

Your emergency assist calls are manned by a dedicated Netcare 911 team (the same team who assisted Thandokazi after Sekani's drowning). The team will dispatch an ambulance to your location (the app will share your geolocation with emergency services).

You can also access the Emergency assist feature when you are logged into the Discovery Health App. Just click on the red "Emergency assist" button at the top of the home page. You will be able to call emergency services or request a call back.