A GOOD Samaritan who came to the rescue of a drowning three-year-old almost 50 years ago is hoping to be reunited with the girl he saved.

Stewart Carnan says he is desperate to meet the woman who he saved from certain death when she was a toddler swimming on Stevenston Beach.

The then-18-year-old had travelled with friends to the West Coast from his home in Glasgow in the Summer of 1970 and the group were enjoying the beach and the sunshine.

But disaster struck when Stewart spotted the tiny girl, who had been playing in a burn alone, going under the water.

The now 67-year-old said: “We were just a group of young pals having fun on the beach. We had played some pitch and put and were just chatting and laughing when out of the corner of my eye I seen this wee girl playing in the burn.

“I noticed her go under the water for a good few seconds, then she bobbed back up. But then she went under again, for longer this time, then she came back up. I remember thinking to myself, ‘if she goes under again I don’t think she will come back up’ and I just started running towards her.

“As I did she went under a third time. I couldn’t really swim well myself but I just went in and submerged myself in the water. It was dark and murky so I couldn’t see anything but then I felt her and just grabbed her and pulled us both out.

“It was all over very quickly but I just remember thinking I don’t think she would have survived that if I hadn’t got to her.”

Stewart, of Cumbernauld, says the child appeared to be with her grandmother and mother who later thanked him for his help.

He added: “I drove an old bottle green Ford Thames van and I was sitting in that a wee while later on as we prepared to leave and the wee girl’s mum came over and spoke to me through the window and said thank you for saving her daughter. It was a lovely feeling and I have never forgotten that wee girl.

“To have the chance to meet her now would just be amazing. The mother seemed to have an Ayrshire accent so I think they were local.”

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