KEY POINTS:
A baby boy is fighting for his life after falling into a trough at a Taranaki farm yesterday.
The 14-month-old was found by his mother lying face down in the trough at a Maata Rd farm, east of Eltham, just after 1pm.
She applied CPR getting him to breath again until the arrival of emergency services.
The Taranaki Community Rescue Helicopter flew the boy to New Plymouth Hospital.
He was later transferred to Auckland's Starship Children's Hospital where he was this morning reported to be in a critical condition in the intensive care unit.
Regional ambulance service manager Ian May said the mother's quick actions had helped save the young boy's life.
"Knowing CPR and performing it well, created a great outcome in what could have been a tragic case," Mr May told the Taranaki Daily News.
The Eltham fire brigade was the first to arrive at the scene, followed by a local doctor.
Senior station officer Kerry O'Keefe told the paper the boy's mother had put the boy in the recovery position. "She had done everything she possibly could."
The boy was breathing but was struggling so firefighters gave him oxygen and cleared his airways.
Mr O'Keefe said the mother's actions had given the little boy a good chance of surviving.
"Obviously she pulled the baby out of the trough, so she did save his life. Putting him in the recovery position would have helped as well."
- NZPA
