Matthew Walter thanks people who saved his life

Matthew [Matty] could have died when was found unresponsive after being underwater in a swimming pool at the Kings Point Retreat, Ulladulla on March 4, 2021.

CCTV footage recorded that the then four-year-old Matty was underwater for six minutes.

The little boy was only given a five per cent chance of ever waking up.

His parents Tom and Josephine remember the first time he woke up while still in the Children's Hospital, Sydney.

He woke up and smiled when he saw his family.

Matty survived because of the efforts of everyone around him.

His recovery is ongoing but miraculous.

Matty with his mum, dad and little sister Charlotte came back to Ulladulla recently from their home in Canberra to say thanks to the people who helped save his life.

Now retired NSW Police Officer Kyle Wilson and Intensive Care Paramedic/Ulladulla Station Officer [SO] Matt Potter were two of the people Matty wanted to thank.

They were both delighted to see Matty so happy and full of life.

Kyle remembers getting the call about the incident.

When Kyle arrived at the retreat people were working on resuscitating Matty, which was also one of the key reasons in his survival.

"I got there and I felt Matty's pulse and thought 'I have done this [resuscitation] a couple of times' so I stepped in," Kyle said.

He described a whole team of people working hard to resuscitate Matty as they waited "for the ambos" to arrive.

"The outcome is just magnificent," Kyle said.

"It's incredible," SO Potter added about Matty's survival and went onto to give more details.

"What went well for Matthew was the bystanders at the park started resuscitation immediately.

"I arrived by myself and I walked on the scene to witness real high-quality CPR being done on Matthew next to the pool."

At that stage, Matty was completely lifeless but the resuscitation people were doing was providing oxygen for his heart and brain - increasing his chance of survival.

"The initial resuscitation was so good that everyone involved got integrated into the 'team'," SO Potter said

Minutes after the ambulance officer arrived Matty's heart started beating.

He remained fully unconscious the entire time while intensive care treatment was provided to him.

The Toll Rescue Helicopter then arrived from Albion Park with a critical care doctor and critical care paramedic onboard.

They added onto the care Matty was getting, put him on a ventilator and flew him to Sydney.

Matty was stablised at this point and trying to breathe for himself - he had a good strong heart rate and strong blood pressure.

"At this stage, we did not know how he was going to go. In these cases, some children do very well and others do very poorly - it's hard to predict," SO Potter said.

Matty was taken to the Sydney Children's Hospital, where he stayed for a few weeks, and all those involved in the efforts to save his life rang up for daily updates.

"We were delighted to hear that within a few days Matthew started to respond," SO Potter said.

At the early stages, nobody was sure what sort of brain damage Matty might have.

"He really has made a miraculous recovery," SO Potter said

Everyone was happy to see Matty - who is a now energetic five-year-old.

"It's one of the best things in the world," Kyle said.

"It's unreal and I feel a bit emotional."

SO Potter once got awarded a bravery medal but he did not want to mention how he gave the medal to Matty so we won't.

Matty has done months and months of rehab and it's not done yet.

Both mum Josephine, who pulled Matty out of the pool, and dad Tom say their little boy is doing amazingly well.

Tom said Josephine was another hero in the story.

"If it was not for Josephine's early CPR we would have lost him," Tom said.

Matty is now almost six-years-of age and has regular physiotherapy, occupational therapy and is seeing a speech pathologist.

Matty's mum and dad hope he gets his speech back one day, however, they are thrilled that Matty is still with them.

Watching him bounce around with a smile on his face it's hard to believe that Matty first left the hospital in a wheelchair.

The family enjoyed coming back to Ulladulla from their home in Canberra to say thanks.

"Absolute heroes," Josephine says as she looks over towards Kyle and SO Potter.

Tom and Josephine arranged the visit because they wanted to say thank-you to everyone in person.

Tom was in Indonesia for work when the incident happened and rushed back to Australia as soon as he could.

Matty is now in kindergarten at Kingsford Smith School and communicates with an Ipad.

He has been known to type funny messages like "daddy farts".

Meanwhile, many others played a role in saving Matty's life.

Other NSW Ambulance Officers who took part were: Ulladulla Paramedics Matt Bradley and Pat Kelly, Sussex Inlet Paramedics Lee Brown and Kate Spencer, NSW Ambulance Toll Rescue Helicopter David Zidds [Critical Care Paramedic] and critical care Dr Nathan Trist.