It was 22-year-old Brecht Berteloot, a student manning the first aid post on De Panne beach, who resuscitated the new-born baby born in a beach loo prematurely last Sunday. "I trained on dolls” he told VRT, “but resuscitating a real baby, a premature one at that, is still something completely different. I was confronted with things I had never seen before, but thanks to teamwork the baby is still alive."
Home News
Student Brecht rescued premature baby after birth in public toilet at De Panne Beach
Colin Clapson
Published:
Given the deep impression the incident left on him, Brecht needed a while before talking to the media. "It was a stroke of luck that we were nearby. If it had happened a week earlier, the rescue station would not have been open and we would not have been there to help," he begins his story.
"Sunday morning we were suddenly told about a serious incident in the public lavatory. I quickly ran there and it turned out to be the birth of a child."
"When I arrived in the toilet, the baby had just been born. It gave no sign of life. It was born two months premature. I started CPR until the emergency services arrived. When they left, there was a heartbeat and a good chance the baby would make it. The latest update I have is that the baby is still alive."
Despite training and years of experience, what happened last Sunday will haunt Brecht for a long time. "We learn CPR on dolls, but the difference between theory and practice is still huge. A real resuscitation like that leaves a deep impression. It was the first time I had to perform CPR. I saw things I never saw before. The full realisation of what happened is yet to come, but that will probably not be until after my exams. I would like to do those because studying is a form of distraction, although it is not easy to focus at the minute.
"No hero!"
The last thing Brecht wants is to be called a hero. "Everyone did their job. I want to stress that it was the work of the entire team, of which I am part. During this exceptional incident, safety on the whole beach was guaranteed by colleagues who stayed at their post."