A police constable has been branded a hero after he saved a boy’s life during an off-duty cruise holiday.
PC James Bremner of Bicester Police Station was on a Royal Caribbean cruise around France and Spain with his family in May 2014, where he resuscitated a youngster who was found unconscious at the bottom of a swimming pool (as we reported here).
The 37-year-old constable was on the top deck of Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas vessel watching a film on the cinema screen when he heard a commotion from the pool area below.
Mr Bremner observed one of the waiters lifting the boy out of the pool and when no one began CPR he rushed to provide assistance. The boy’s feet and lips had turned blue, his eyes had dilated and he had no pulse.
The constable rolled the six-year-old onto his side, which caused water to flow out of his mouth and nose. He then began CPR and asked a female American passenger to begin chest compressions while he maintained the airway.
Recalling the event, Mr Bremner said: “All that was going through my mind was that this boy is dead. His eyes were open and they were completely black.
“I was convinced there was no hope, but you can’t stop – you have to keep going. I couldn’t find a pulse, but the American lady said she could feel something in his chest. I had another look and he was breathing, but it was horrible. It wasn’t normal breathing at all”
A medical team was called to the scene and the boy and his parents were airlifted by a French navy helicopter to intensive care.
Thanks to PC Bremner’s courageous actions, the boy’s life was saved and he went on to make a full recovery.
Mr Bremner was presented with a higher commendation award at Eynsham Hall in Witney by Thames Valley Police’s deputy chief constable Francis Habgood.
The lack of lifeguards on a cruise ship has always been a contentious subject as we discussed here
Do you think PC Bremner is a hero? Do you think there should have been lifeguards on-board?
