SHE is the lifesaver who has given a young neighbour a second chance of life.

Quick-thinking Pammy Modelly came to the rescue when two-year-old Matthew Wing stopped breathing as he lay in bed.

After his mum raised the alarm, Pammy gave the youngster oxygen and carried out cardiac massage until an ambulance arrived.

Doctors say her actions during those precious minutes helped save his life.

Now Matthew, who weighed less than a packet of biscuits when he was born with breathing problems four months prematurely, is enjoying life back at his home in Mosaic Close, Southampton.

His mum Donna Taylor is full of praise for Pammy and her medical expertise after hospital medics said he would not have made it if he had been left for another five minutes.

"Pammy is a true hero. She saved my baby's life," she told the Daily Echo.

Donna, 37, first realised something was wrong with her son, who underwent a tracheotomy operation and uses a ventilator to breathe, when she took eldest son Aaron, aged three, to bed.

"I put my head around Matthew's door, but something appeared wrong.

"I walked over to his ventilator, took another look at Matthew and saw he was not breathing."

Donna saw that Matthew had pulled out his trache, a tube that helps him to breathe by keeping his airway open.

She immediately reinserted it but got no response.

Convinced he was dead she phoned 999 and went to get help from neighbour Pammy.

"It seemed to take ages for the operator to connect me to the ambulance service so I looked out of my landing window and saw that a neighbour who is also a trained paediatric intensive care unit sister was home.

"I ran over the road and frantically knocked on her door, telling her Matthew wasn't breathing."

Pammy found Matthew had a faint pulse and carried out her lifesaving work before helping him into the ambulance.

He was taken to Southampton General Hospital's paediatric intensive care unit where Pammy herself works as a sister.

Pammy, 35, said: "Donna was banging on the door and I just went across.

When I got to Matthew he was quite blue. I gave him oxygen and did cardiac massage for about two to three minutes and his circulation improved.

"I knew what to do but it is different from a work environment."

"It is great to see him back at home and to give him high fives!"

Donna said Matthew, who uses Makaton sign language to communicate because his vocal cords are not developed, is his usual happy self playing musical toys and enjoying the occasional chocolate treat.

"We call him the chocolate monster!"

said Donna.

For the full story see today's Daily Echo.