Dean saves diabetic dad from drowning
Boy, 9, stays calm and performs all the right actions in emergency
Published:
A DEESIDE man who became unconscious when he suffered a diabetic fit in the bath says he was saved from drowning by his quick-thinking son.
Nine-year-old Dean Strachan realised something was seriously wrong when dad Eddie, 34, failed to emerge from the bathroom of his Ballater home.
He had got into the water while Dean watched television downstairs.
But almost two hours later he was still there, having suffered a hypoglycaemic- related fit, which left him unable to move or shout for help.
When Dean found his dad in the bath, he rushed to get an energy drink and began trying to pour it into his mouth.
He then called Mr Strachan’s mother, brother Benjamin and friends to tell them what had happened.
Mr Strachan, of Golf Road, has had type A diabetes for 18 years and needs to inject himself with insulin regularly to control the condition.
Panic
“Dean knows I have diabetes but he’s never seen me have a fit before,” he said.
“I’ve talked to him about what he needs to do in an emergency but I can’t believe he stayed so calm.
“Most adults would panic in a situation like that and he’s only nine. I’m just so proud of him.”
Mr Strachan said his son’s intervention meant he was able to make a fast recovery without the need for hospital treatment.
“If Dean hadn’t found me, I probably would have slipped into a coma,” he said.
“This is one of the worst fits I’ve had and it was particularly bad because I was in the bath.
“All I remember is Dean standing over me trying to pour Lucozade into my mouth and holding a bar a chocolate. He did all the right things to bring me round. I’m just amazed he remembered what to do in that situation.”
