PARENTS and carers of children attended the first of a series of free first aid courses at the Activity Zone in Malmesbury last weekend.

The courses are being arranged by Tina Schafroth, a mum who used life-saving skills she had learnt while pregnant to save her own son from drowning earlier this month.

Tina, 27, was attending to her goats in a field near her home in Little Somerford when she looked around with horror to see her son, George, had fallen into a trough.

She described the panic of seeing her son’s eyes, "glassy like a doll’s", as she tried to revive him.

Fortunately Tina’s story had a happy ending as George made a full recovery and within hours was running around as if nothing had happened.

However the trauma inspired Tina to set up free paediatric first aid courses, knowing that further lives could be saved if more people knew basic skills.

The first such course was held on June 17 with demonstrations, models to practice on and a soft play area for children while adults learnt the techniques.

Tina said: “It was really good, I was so impressed.

“They covered so much and made it really easy to take in and understand.

“My heartfelt thanks and gratitude to everyone who attended, you are making a huge difference to your own family and also quite possible to families you don’t even know yet.”

Tina also thanked everyone who made donations towards holding future courses, which are otherwise being funded entirely by herself and the team at the Activity Zone. The costs include trainers and extra staff to monitor the soft play area as well as drinks and snacks

More courses are being planned, details of which will be available soon.