Forest Hill mum of Chloe Johnson: Family has lost 'heartbeat' in Egyptian holiday pool

Chloe Johnson, five, died after straying into a wave pool at the Coral Sea Waterworld Hotel in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh on Friday (May 17).

Mum Sarah Thompson had gone to fetch the youngster drinks and snacks at around noon before returning to the children’s playground at the waterpark hotel where Chloe had been playing happily.

But when she and her other daughter Sadie, 15, returned less than five minutes later, Chloe was nowhere to be seen as her mum walked round the small pool twice looking for her.

She had in fact lost consciousness in the nearby wave pool and was dragged out of the water by a fellow tourist.

Miss Thompson says Chloe’s dad Tony, 43, had perform CPR on his daughter as there were no lifeguards to be seen.

The 32-year-old said: ""It was just absolute sheer pandemonium, panic and grief.

"There was just no CPR for Chloe and that is what we are trying to get out there.

"We are just trying to understand why there weren’t any sort of proper procedures in place to help her and get her back to life."

The children's play pool where Chloe was playing.

Miss Thompson claims her younger daughter was poolside for 10 minutes before hotel staff moved her to a room in the hotel acting as a clinic.

The mother-of-two says it took at least an hour for a doctor to arrive and four hours for an ambulance to appear while the family waited with Chloe’s body just half a day into what was their first holiday together.

She said: "Chloe was loving it and this is the only comfort we have got that before this tragedy happened she was having the time of her life.

"Chloe was such an intelligent, beautiful, vibrant little girl.

"She was such a beautiful child and our lives will never be the same again without her.

"She was the heartbeat of us: she made our lives special."

Chloe’s dad Tony told ITV’s Daybreak: "It was just me at the beginning.

"I had done it all and then other people said there was a nurse.

"There was no CPR, there was no resuscitation for Chloe; we were just left to our own devices.

Chloe with dad Tony. 

"There was no professional on hand.

"There was no doctor for at least an hour.

"There was nothing there for her."

Chloe was a pupil at Kelvin Grove Primary School in Sydenham and headteacher Andy Mathieson paid tribute to her.

He said: "The whole school community is deeply saddened by the tragic death of Chloe Johnson and our thoughts and prayers go to her family and friends at this difficult time.

"Chloe was a popular little girl with many friends.

"She was a real pleasure to teach - she worked hard and was artistic and creative, always trying her best.

"She was well-liked by all the other children and had made many friends at Kelvin Grove.

"She is a huge loss to our school."

A condolences book has been opened at the school for pupils and teachers to pay their tributes to Chloe.