Quick-thinking South Hedland girl Zahara Farrell saves cousin Marshall Hilzinger from bottom of backyard pool

Beaming from his hospital bed, three-year-old Marshall Farrell is too young to realise at this stage of his life why he will always owe his remaining days to his big cousin Zahara Farrell sitting beside him. If not for the quick thinking 10-year-old girl who plucked him lifeless from a backyard pool in South Hedland, the little boy’s million-watt grin would now be just a tragic memory for his family. Zahara has been hailed a hero for her actions on April 9 at a family barbecue. While she was splashing around in the pool, she noticed a shape on the bottom. She at first thought it was her little brother who she knew couldn’t swim. In a panic Zahara dived down to the bottom to find her young cousin, unconscious and still. She grabbed him and pushed him above her head as she swam to the surface. Adults at the party hauled the toddler out to start CPR. At first it seemed successful as Marshall vomited and regained consciousness. But then he again became unresponsive. In all three rounds of CPR were delivered by four different guests while waiting for an ambulance before it was decided Marshall needed to be rushed to the Hedland Health Campus hospital. He was later revived and spent two nights in hospital recovering. Marshall’s mum Farrell hailed Zahara’s “heroic” efforts to save her son and said if it hadn’t have been for her niece the outcome would have been tragic. “We are just thankful for the way it ended because it could have been very different.” Ms Farrell said she was still trying to process what had happened but urged people to be more aware of the risk to children around the water. “It doesn’t matter if you are there — if you’re at the pool or if there are people in the pool — it (drowning) happens so fast, accidents happen,” she said. “There were a lot of us who didn’t know CPR who were there. We were lucky there was someone there who did know CPR, so I recommend everyone with kids who don’t to do their CPR.”