Whilst holidaying in the Whitsundays earlier this month, former local residents Tracey Lord and Cathleen “Cat” Campbell stopped by what they thought was an empty pool to take some photos.

Unbeknownst to them, a young Chinese tourist was lying motionless at the bottom.

They spent five minutes taking photos and looking through them before Cat remarked to her 12-year-old grandson Eden, “some random dude just turned up in my photo.”

Looking through her own photos, Tracey noticed an eery dark shadow under the water and walked over to the poolside to investigate.

It was at that moment Paul, a fellow Australian tourist, dove deep underwater and emerged with a lady’s body in his arms.

Still needing to swim to the edge and lift her up the half-metre high pool edge, Cat jumped in to assist whilst Tracey waited to lift her to safety.

Gasping and in shock from the sheer effort, he thrust the woman toward Cat and she dragged her back toward the pool step.

“Tracey immediately started yelling at me, ‘Cat get her head out of the water!’,” Cat said.

“I turned her over to see her face and it was black and purple.”

Cat and Tracey lifted the woman from the water and, with no breathing or pulse, were both certain she was dead as Tracey began CPR.

Cat called for help as Tracey continued performing compressions.

As soon as the ambulance crew arrived, further quick thinking from Tracey saw her call the lady’s work to find an interpreter so her husband could relay the woman’s medical history to the paramedics.

“This saved more vital minutes and I was so proud of her,” Cat said.

“I was standing to the side, watching over Tracey and praying the entire time for the woman and Tracey, and making sure Tracey held steadfast.

“We have been best friends since we were 12 and Tracey amazed me that day with her quick thinking.”

Incredibly, the woman made a full recovery and was released from Mackay Hospital last week.

That night Tracey and Cat had the pleasure of meeting her teenage son, who thanked them for saving his mother’s life.

Both women maintain that her survival was a miracle from God given that she lay at the bottom of the pool for at least five minutes after they arrived and an unknown time before that.

Undoubtedly the bronze medallions they received under Ian Vesperman’s instruction at Cootamundra Town Pool as teenagers, and Tracey’s further training with Air-Sea Rescue, played a vital role as well.

Cat said they would both encourage everyone to learn first aid.

“You never know when you will be the one chosen to save someone’s life.”