A firefighter from Dewsbury found himself at the centre of a dramatic rescue while he was on holiday.
Stefan Taylor is used to daily heroics in his job as part of Blue Watch at Dewsbury Fire Station.
But in scenes like something from a movie, he saved a toddler from certain death while on a family break in Turkey.
Stefan was walking near the swimming pool when he spotted a small child motionless at the bottom.
Another man dived in and placed the three-year-old boy on the side and Stefan jumped into action to try and revive him.
And just like on the big screen, after several minutes of working on the youngster, he finally spluttered back to life.
Stefan, who was on holiday in the Hisarönü area of Turkey with his family, said panic had unfolded around them as holidaymakers realised the youngster was unconscious and could die.
“His eyes were open but he was unresponsive,” said the dad of four.
“I did not know how long he had been under for but I wanted to get some breaths into him because he was blue.”
After the first attempt at mouth-to-mouth some water came out of the boy’s mouth so Stefan asked the other firefighter to do more breaths while he started chest compressions.
He said: “I did another minute-and-a-half and I thought to myself that I don’t think that he is coming back from this.”
One of the men went to find a defibrillator and another man took over helping Stefan with the CPR as they continued working on the toddler with distraught members of his family around them.
Their persistence and training then paid off.
“I felt a judder but I did not know what it was,” said Stefan.
“The next minute he coughed and started crying.
“The relief of him coming back – I have never experienced that in my career.
“It’s totally different from being at work where you know you have got people there to help you.
“When he came back it was an unbelievable feeling.
“I have got a two-and-a-half year old, and she is about the same size as him.
“I think that just made me more determined.”
After being resuscitated by Stefan, paramedics took over and the boy has since made a full recovery.
It was only later when the men who had helped the boy started chatting about their backgrounds that they realised they had one thing in common.
“I could not believe it when I found out that we were all firefighters,” Stefan said.
“When I thought about it we were all working in a team like we would normally at work!”
Chief Fire Officer for West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service , John Roberts, said: “This is a truly incredible story and we are very thankful that it ended happily.
“It is fantastic testament to their training that despite coming from different brigades these three firefighters have sprung into action and worked seamlessly together to save a life on foreign soil.
“We always say in the Fire Service that with the skills you acquire you are never truly off duty and I think this rescue proves that to be true and is a credit to the Fire Service personnel of England and Wales.”
