A team of lifeguards at Peel’s Western Swimming Pool have been honoured after saving the life of a swimmer who suffered a stroke in the pool.

Lifeguards Kirstyn Horne, Stephanie Brew and Breesha Lang, together with the pool’s assistant manager Philip Littlejohns, have all received the Certificate of Meritorious Action for Lifeguards from the Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS).

The team spotted a woman getting into difficulty during a gentle aquafit session for seniors and helped her out of the pool.

The woman was unable to talk, her face had fallen on one side and she then collapsed.

The lifeguards identified that the woman was suffering a stroke and called an ambulance.

But as they waited for the ambulance to arrive the woman’s condition quickly deteriorated and she stopped breathing.

The team immediately began to administer CPR and continued to do so until she started breathing again.

A paramedic arrived 15 minutes later and helped the team with CPR until the ambulance arrived.

The woman was taken to hospital where she is said to be recovering. Her daughter has since visited the Western Swimming Pool to personally thank the lifeguards for their actions which saved her mother’s life.

Western Swimming Pool manager Kath Andrews said: ’This was a situation that our staff train for, but that thankfully doesn’t occur very often.

’I am extremely proud of the staff who kept very calm in a difficult situation to ensure the best possible outcome.’

Mike Ferguson, national trainer and assessor for lifeguards in the Isle of Man said: ’We’re delighted that the lifeguard team from Western Swimming Pool has been honoured in this way. They instinctively sprung into action and performed extremely well backed by other colleagues who looked after the lady’s husband and other swimmers in the pool while the lifeguards were occupied.

’Our lifeguards are trained to deal with precisely these sorts of situations and I’m very proud of how they performed on the day.

’Our thoughts are now with the lady and her family and we wish her a speedy recovery.’

Director at the Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS), Martin Symcox, who presented the lifeguards with their certificates, said: ’We were pleased to recognise the team from Western Swimming Pool who used their training and skills to the highest standard. They should be extremely proud of their actions and we are pleased to hear that the lady is recovering.’

The RLSS is the UK’s drowning prevention charity and leading provider of water safety and drowning prevention education.

Around 400 people needlessly die from drowning in the UK every year and thousands more suffer injury, some life-changing, through near-drowning experiences.