A "GRATEFUL" mum whose toddler daughter nearly drowned in a lake has shared the traumatic details of that day and amazing details of rescue which saved the youngster's life.
Three-year-old Ayda Kenny wandered into the lake near Waterside Village, Lea Green on the afternoon of Saturday, April 6.
She was taken to hospital in a critical condition after CPR was performed on her.
Ayda has since made a full recovery and is now back at home with her family. She has since been reunited with the heroic crew - including police officers - who rescued her.
Her mum Alex Price has spoken to the Star discussing the details of that day and her recovery.
Mum-of-three Alex, said: “Ayda is three and is autistic and non-verbal. I have a daughter Georgia who is 12 and then a little boy called John who is five.
“Georgia was in Northern Ireland visiting her dad and I’m a single mum, so my mum came to help me out and had John at my house while I took Ayda to Sherdley Park.
"We had a lovely time, then I swapped the kids over and took John out to Knowsley Safari Park and left Ayda with my mum.
“Somehow Ayda has got out of the house and ended up down the grass bank there, which does have railings, but they aren’t very good really.
“My mum realised and said she drove around and couldn’t find her, so the police were called and she knocked on neighbours’ doors. I raced back with my little boy.
“The police got there really fast and did a full search, they found Ayda floating in the lake.
“Two officers jumped in and got her out and started CPR and that’s when I got home, and I just screamed.
"The police couldn’t let me near and wouldn’t tell me if she was dead or not because they didn’t know.
“Luckily as well my neighbour’s sister, Janet – who randomly visited that day, it was just chance – arrived.
"She’s a respiratory nurse and worked with the police and stabilised her, so much so that her heartbeat returned without needing the defibrillator.
“She was blue lighted to Alder Hey and I was taken there in a police car on blue lights and when I finally saw her it was just the worst thing.
“I work as an ODP in hospital theatres so her 27 degree temperature initially frightened me.
"And she was intubated, covered in smelly mud and covered in twigs and the CT scan showed severe swelling on her brain.
“Both me and her dad were told to expect the worst and if she survived she could be brain damaged after that long without oxygen.”
What followed then was days and days sat by Ayda’s bedside, taking it in turns to see if there was any progress and if their daughter would survive.
But despite all the odds, Ayda woke up and fought the sedation, managing to sit up and show positive signs, including pulling her NG tube out.
Alex added: “Once I was told that she woke up and they upped her levels to allow her to re-sedate so she could recover some more then that gave me hope then.
"I’d had little hope before but after then I wanted everyone to be positive. I knew then that she would be ok.”
After 48 hours an MRI scan revealed that despite all the concerns, there were no signs of brain damage.
Alex, who is an agency worker at Walton Hospital’s neurology department, added: “The consultant [from Alder Hey Children’s Hospital] was from Germany and said over there it's quite common that children fall into lakes and ponds, and he believes the thing that saved Ayda – as well as Janet and all the incredible emergency services – is that the water in the lake was so cold.
“The cold water and Ayda only being small meant it cooled her down quickly, stopping any further swelling to her brain. Police, paramedics and Janet then got her heart going again.
“He said it’s a miracle and I believe it is. We’ve been told to monitor her, and she could have other issues such as hearing impairment or anything in the future which we need to keep an eye on but so far, all her behaviour and mannerisms are the same.
“I wanted to share what happened because there has been a lot of speculation.
£Ultimately, I know because of Ayda’s age and her autism she has no concept of danger and likely walked straight into the lake, not falling in, because she loved to feed the ducks.
“She’s non verbal so was quiet as a mouse when sneaking out. I’m just so grateful she’s OK so far.”
Alex later found out from police that the officer who spotted Ayda only did so because he saw her nappy. She learned that if Ayda had been potty trained then she may not have been floating in the water, because it was the nappy that kept her afloat.
Alex has invited all the emergency services there that day to come and visit Ayda, gifting them all with a card with Ayda’s handprints and the words: 'Because of you these hands will grow'.
She added: “The emergency services saved my daughter, Janet’s training saved Ayda too and I can never repay what they have done for me.“I specifically want to thank the officers who went in that day and I now know their names are Constable Hide, who saved Ayda and gave her mouth to mouth while he was still in the water with her, as well as officers Nathan Beavin who initially spotted her and Martyn Hayes, Ben Phillips, Beth Roberts and Adam Rigby.
“I also want to thank my best friend Anna who has been there every day in the hospital supporting me, getting childcare for her own children to support me and Ayda.
“Also my friends and neighbours who all helped in any way they could, you will never know what it meant as a single mum to have your shoulder to cry on when I felt so alone.
“I also want to thank the air ambulance for the massive role they had in saving Ayda.
“I plan to do a sky dive and run a marathon to raise some charity money for them in the future as they are solely based on charity donations.”
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