Deaf Olympic swimmer Terence Parkin has saved a seven-year-old from drowning after he reportedly got sucked in by a swimming pool vent at a Johannesburg gym.
The Star newspaper reported on Friday that the boy's arm got stuck in the vent about 4pm on Thursday.
Netcare 911 spokesman Jeffrey Wicks said paramedics were called to the scene in Craighall Park to find that Parkin had already started cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
Wicks said: “It is thought that the boy had been submerged for nearly three minutes and was unresponsive when plucked from the water.
“They (paramedics) arrived to find that the boy had been pulled from the water by his swimming coach, South African Olympic swimmer Terence Parkin.”
The boy was taken to the Garden City hospital and was in a stable condition.
Wicks said he could not confirm The Star report that the boy had been sucked in by the vent.
Parkin won a silver medal at the 2000 Olympics. - Sapa