BOY'S AWFUL ORDEAL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 54, 5 March 1930, Page 8

BOY'S AWFUL ORDEAL.

SUCKED INTO BATHS OUTLET. HEAD AND SHOULDERS- CAUGHT UNDER WATER FIVE 3IINUTES. GRIM FIGHT FOR HJIFE. (From Our Own Corressondent.) SYDNEY, Fabruary 28. In a bath incident withomt parallel in Australia, Athos Le Gras, a schoolboy, living at Bondi, Sydney, was held under water for five minutes a a Thursday, rescued after many despeiritte attempts, and is still alive. The incarlent occurred at the Bondi Baths, aftar the usual Thursday morning race d£ the Bondi Ladies' Club. ' Le Gras had gone in for a swim just as the baths' attendants open the outlet valves to clean out tlwi baths. Curious to see how the outlet valves operated, the foolish boy divefl in and swam towards them. The tea rific pressure from the Avater rushing out and the suction at the outlet piqpes drew him irresistibly into one of the openings, and ; before he "could make a m«d>ve on his own behalf, .he was sucked in past his shoulders and firmly wec!j ;ed. Miss Clarice Kennedy, the world's champion hurdler and all-round athlete, who had taken part in i he races, and Mrs. Buck:e, secretary of; the club, saw the boy dive in, noticed 'he was a long time underwater, walls ad over,' and could see his legs kicki lg frantically. As soon as they realised what had happened, both dived in and • endeavoured to free him. Their efforts t4 ere useless, the suction and pressure beis.g too great for them. Even when one • caught his legs and the other pulled th.ey could make no impression. Two men i were called in, and. they, too, failed to -shift the'unfortunate, boy. A rope wrtfs tied to his leg and all four pulled on #;. But the rope snapped. Again it was tied on his leg. In the meantime the bat hs* manager had succeeded in closing off one of the outlet valves, relieving tl te suction to a great extent, and the sneond tug on the rope brought the boy away. He was black in the face, uncol scious, and there was little sign of breg thing. In addition his head and shouii lers were bruised and cut by the pipe iaftd which he had been sucked. A doctor, ambulance ; men, and the four rescuers — all competent life-savers — worked for three-quarters of an hour before they restored a* dmation. All the way to the? hospital, resuscitation methods had to> be continued, and even yet his recovery is problematical. That he retained li£ e at all after that period under water is i extraordinary; but it is suggested tha t his head and shoulders prevented i he full stream of water from passing through the outlet; and so allowed him i o get some air all the time.