A 14-year-old British girl, who was resuscitated on a Costa Brava beach on Saturday, remains in a critical condition in an intensive care unit
A British teenage girl in a critical condition after being resuscitated on a Costa Brava beach was enjoying her last swim before returning home, local reports say.
The unnamed 14-year-old remained in critical condition on Monday afternoon in an intensive care unit at Josep Trueta Hospital in the Catalan city of Girona. She went into cardiac arrest after being swept out to sea by a wave at Lloret de Mar on the Spanish Costa Brava at around 11.45am on Saturday.
The youngster is said to have been staying at a hotel in the Costa Brava resort of Lloret de Mar as part of a study trip with a group of schoolchildren from London. The group were set to return to the UK the same day, when the near-drowning occurred, local media reported.
Police were sent to the beach to warn the youngsters not to enter the choppy sea after witnesses reported they were on the shoreline. When they arrived, officers saw a wave carrying two people, including the 14-year-old girl, out to sea. Police jumped in and reached her, but she was already unconscious. Firefighters assisted in the rescue, throwing a rope to help everyone out of the sea.
Footage of the dramatic rescue has since emerged, showing the British girl bobbing helplessly about 500ft from the shoreline as help arrived. She was eventually pulled to safety and laid on the beach, where CPR was performed for around half an hour.
Ambulance workers were later seen taking the youngster away on a stretcher. The area, initially cordoned off with police tape, was reopened once she was taken to hospital.
Local reports say the police have opened proceedings for possible negligent injury, which will be sent to a court in Blanes near Lloret, where an investigating judge will decide on further action.
But provincial paper Diari de Girona said on Monday afternoon: “Although the tutors were on the beach and even tried to jump into the water, they are not considered to have had any responsibility for the incident, which is being treated as an accident.”
Witness Carme Rigart said: “I was able to see the whole scene from the balcony of my flat opposite the beach. Very good work by the local police, fire brigade, the regional Mossos d’Esquadra police and, above all, Civil Protection workers. They managed to rescue the young girl and performed CPR, which saved her life. Hopefully, she will not suffer any lasting effects.”
Another witness, Cintiha Schenfeld, added: “I was there, and the police were among the first to arrive. They did not allow anyone else to enter the water because there were already two officers in, and until the fire brigade arrived with the appropriate equipment, no one else was allowed in.”