Harrowing scenes as toddler is pulled from Moorebank backyard pool unresponsive days out from Christmas

A toddler is fighting for life after being pulled from a backyard pool just days before Christmas.

Emergency services rushed to the Moorebank home in Sydney’ south-west shortly after 6.30pm on Tuesday following a reports a three-year-old boy was found unresponsive in the water.

Paramedics attempted to resuscitate the child at the scene for some time before he was rushed to Sydney Children’s Hospital.

NSW Police initially reported that the boy died however have since confirmed that the he remains in hospital in a critical condition.

Footage from the scene showed ambulances and police vehicles lining both sides of the street.

The boy was surrounded by paramedics as he was stretchered from the home and into an ambulance.

Several distressed family members were seen speaking with officers and paramedics as the boy was rushed to hospital.

A child’s life vest was seen abandoned near the backyard pool. 

‘We were in the backyard and we could hear a lot of screaming,’ neighbour Valeria said. 

‘I did yell over, ‘is everything alright?’ because they have been partying.

‘I was thinking maybe someone threw somebody in the pool but then we heard a lot of screaming.’

Several other neighbours also heard the cries from the home and rushed over to help.

‘We went over there to have a look and apparently a little boy fell into the pool and they were trying to resuscitate him,’ Valeria said.

‘The next door neighbour did go in to try and resuscitate the boy while the ambulance came.’ 

NSW Police have launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the drowning. 

The near-drowning came several hours after a man drowned at a beach at Catherine Hill Bay in the NSW’s Lake Macquarie region

Lifeguards and paramedics administered CPR to the man, 55, pulled from the water but was unable to be revived.