A quick-thinking bystander who broke the lock on a park gate to allow an ambulance through has been credited for helping save a young boy from drowning at Admiralty House Park.

According to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, the nine-year-old, who lives in the Spanish Point area, remained in critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit last night.

“I didn’t think; I just did it,” said David Barbosa, a property manager at Spanish Point Apartments who was alerted by sirens to the incident at about 3.30pm.

According to police, the boy was swimming around Clarence Cove as part of a summer programme when he got into difficulty.

But when police arrived, followed by an ambulance, they found the access road barred by a locked gate.

“I knew it was something really bad — I climbed over and ran down, and there was already someone there doing CPR there,” said Mr Barbosa, who ran down the hill carrying a defibrillator to assist.

“I decided to go around to a friend of mine who had bolt cutters. An ambulance had pulled in, and I had to break the chain off the gate so they could get through.”

By that point, the boy was being carried up the hill, he said, adding: “It didn’t look good.”

After the boy was taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, Mr Barbosa — who is the father of a five-year-old girl — said he “came home and just broke down — it was heartbreaking”.

“I just feel for the parents,” he said. “I hope he comes out of it okay. It would be nice to meet the family.”

According to police, the boy was conscious and breathing before being taken from the area.

Eyewitness Joell Hayden said police arrived first and had to run to the waterside because of the gate.

“The ambulance arrived maybe ten minutes later and couldn’t get through,” he said, estimating the barrier delayed emergency responders by 15 minutes.

“If it wasn’t for that private citizen who got the gate open, they wouldn’t have gotten through. And if the swimmer had been someone bigger, they would have had a real issue there.”

Mr Hayden said the gate was customarily left locked to prevent bike riders from racing down the footpath.

Last night a hospital spokesman said that the child was in a stable condition in the Intensive Care Unit.