Ex-paramedic describes trying to save Legoland baby

Matt Burns said he had 40 years' experience as a medic

A former paramedic has described how he and another off-duty medic tried to save the life of a baby that had a cardiac arrest at Legoland Windsor.

The five-month-old was taken to hospital after the incident on Thursday and died on Monday.

Matt Burns, 60, said he and another paramedic carried out CPR on the baby for about 20 minutes, and that the youngster had a pulse again by the time the ambulance arrived.

A woman, 27, from Witham, Essex, has been arrested on suspicion of neglecting a child to cause unnecessary injury.

Mr Burns, who lives in Eastbourne, said he was at Legoland with his children and grandchildren when his son's partner alerted him to a woman calling for help because her baby was "effectively not breathing".

"The baby was blue, no pulse," he said.

He said another paramedic administered chest compressions while he did mouth-to-nose because the baby was so small.

Legoland staff arrived quickly with oxygen and other equipment, he said.

"I was right there with another off-duty paramedic and we resuscitated the baby successfully," he said.

"By the time the ambulance service arrived he was breathing, had a pulse, and was gaining some tone."

He said at the time he and the other paramedic were "quite optimistic", but the baby had "obviously taken another turn for the worst during the weekend and sadly passed away".

He said he had "no idea whatsoever" what had caused the cardiac arrest.

Police said they are not looking for anyone else in relation to the incident, but that they want to speak to anyone who was queueing for the Coastguard HQ ride on Thursday between 11:30 BST and 12:45.

A Legoland Windsor spokesperson said staff were "incredibly saddened" to hear the baby had died and that they would support police with their investigation.

The arrested woman was released on bail until 26 July.