Toddler rescue in Eaglesham features in new BBC documentary

The rescue of a small boy who had fallen in an Eaglesham loch will feature in a new BBC series starting this Sunday.
Paramedics treat Felix in  Eaglesham. (Photo: BBC Scotland).Paramedics treat Felix in  Eaglesham. (Photo: BBC Scotland).
Paramedics treat Felix in Eaglesham. (Photo: BBC Scotland).

Laura Cuthbert travelled to East Renfrewshire with her then three-year-old son Felix in August last year for a short break.

While her back was turned for just a few moments, Felix had vanished.

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After frantically searching, the little boy was found in a nearby loch. Pulling him free, Laura immediately started CPR while an ambulance was called.

Luckily a special operations team were training nearby, and on hearing the 999 call, they arrived within 20 minutes.

Felix was then rushed to hospital and put in an induced coma.

Despite initial fears, he is now recovering well and has started school in his home town of Rosyth.

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The Scottish Ambulance Service serves over five million people, from remote islands to busy cities.

With unprecedented access, the 10-part series captures the life-saving work of Scotland’s paramedics as they respond to emergencies wherever they are needed.

Each episode features extraordinary stories from across the country, with the cameras following divisional ambulances responding to high-pressure 999 calls, 24 hours a day. The call-outs ranged from air-ambulances in Highlands and Islands, bringing treatment to Scotland’s remotest communities to city centre car smashes to dealing onsite with life-threatening sepsis.

The cameras also followed the Special Operations Response Team (SORT) to the most extreme emergencies – including major car crashes and drowning incidents. Every moment is captured with a mix of director-shot footage, giving a close-up view of high-stakes medical emergencies, and an in-cab rig that captures the lighter moments between crew members as they work long shifts.

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The first episode features crews from Paisley, Glasgow and Edinburgh dealing with an astonishing array of call-outs, from an eight-car motorway crash with several casualties needing hospitalised, including a pregnant woman, to a festival worker who needs treatment for a bee sting and an urgent case of sepsis.

The programme also shows the Special Operations Response teams as they deal with the most serious emergencies. In the Pentland Hills, they struggle to find a hiker who has fallen ill.

Paramedics on Scene is a Firecrest Films production for BBC Scotland.

Paramedics on Scene, Ep 1/10

Sunday 29 September

BBC Scotland, 9-10pm