Lovie and Dolly Buckley of Mildenhall presented with East of England Ambulance Service award after saving younger brother from drowning

Two sisters from a Suffolk town have been presented with an award for their bravery after their quick actions saved their brother from drowning.

Lovie, 7, and Dolly, 9, Buckley, of Mildenhall, had been playing with Reggie, who was 3 at the time, in a wading pool in September 2023 on one of the hottest days of the year.

The mum of the three children, Jess Roberts, said if the two girls had acted a couple of seconds later, Reggie, who suffers from febrile convulsions and can often have seizures, would have drowned.

She said: “It had been a hot day, and Reggie was a little hot, so I gave him his medication, and he was playing happily with his sisters in the pool.

“I thought the medication and the water in the pool would keep him cool and he would be okay for at least a couple of hours.

“My children are all confident swimmers, and the pool is only waist deep, so I was keeping an eye on them, but folding some laundry - then suddenly my eldest daughter screamed and they were holding his body – he looked lifeless and purple.

“He had had a seizure and gone to the bottom of the pool with his mouth open. My eldest daughter had grabbed his head and Lovie got his feet and they brought him to the surface.

“When Reggie comes out of his seizures, he often takes big, gulping breaths, so if Lovie and Dolly had acted a couple of seconds later, he would have drowned.

“I was amazed, they’re young children and you wouldn’t expect them to act as quickly as they did.”

The ambulance was called and Reggie was transported to hospital and made a full recovery.

John Grimwood, one of the East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST) paramedics that attended that day, said: “We arrived to find Reggie sat on his mothers lap, awake and breathing because when he started to convulse, his sisters had pulled him back above the water and to the edge of their paddling pool, before alerting their mother.

“The reason for him being alive is almost certainly because of their actions.

Certificates were presented by Tom Abell, chief executive of EEAST, at a special assembly at Beck Row Primary Academy, where Lovie and Dolly go to school.

Mr Abell said: “Lovie and Dolly thought so quickly and acted so bravely that, without a doubt, they are responsible for Reggie being here today.”