Two-year-old girl survives falling into pool after learning to swim from just eight weeks

Elizabeth Jelley, who is now two, spent several minutes in the 4ft-deep pool while her mother Amanda frantically searched for her in the house.

The 38-year-old nurse said the Water Babies swimming classes she attended with Elizabeth taught her daughter not to panic and to swim to the side.

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She had heard her daughter calling her name but was unaware she had left the door leading to the pool unlocked.

She found Elizabeth clinging to the side of the indoor pool.

Mrs Jelley, of Noctorum in the Wirral, said: "She was running around but suddenly she went quiet so I began looking for her.

"She was calling 'Mummy, Mummy' but she wasn't panicking. It just sounded like she wanted me to look for her.

"I was hunting under the beds and in wardrobes but I couldn't see her.

"When I saw the door was open I just went cold. I thought that was it. I thought she had gone under the water."

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She added: "When I found Elizabeth she was holding on to the side of the pool. She seemed quite content."

Mrs Jelley believes her daughter managed to right herself, swim to the edge of the pool and hold on to the side – techniques taught in her class.

She said: "It was pretty amazing."

Jess Thompson, who founded Water Babies, said: "Stories like Elizabeth's make me feel emotional.

"I don't think she would have survived if it hadn't been for the classes. Most children drown because they panic when they fall into water.

"Water Babies teaches children to become familiar with water, starting with splashing it gently on to their face."