A man in his 70s has been rushed to hospital after taking ill at a popular Mearns pool.
He was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary following the incident at Stonehaven Open Air Pool at about 1.15pm.
The pool has been closed for the rest of the day, but is expected to reopen as normal tomorrow.
Swimmers described seeing the man, who was resuscitated at the scene, being dragged out of the water and given first aid treatment by the pool’s lifeguards.
Dundee woman Jill Robertson was visiting Stonehaven for the day with her son and daughter, and had only been inside for 10 minutes when the drama unfolded.
She praised the lifeguards for their quick response after he was treated soon after taking ill.
Mrs Robertson added: “It was an elderly guy I would say between 60 and 70. My kids were just about to go on the chute, we’d just put an inflatable in the water.
“My son saw him being pulled out of the water. The first I knew about it was when one of the young lifeguards said ‘everyone leave the pool’.
“I looked across and two young lifeguards were punching his chest and putting a tube into his mouth. He was in trunks and stuff, I think he had been swimming.
“We were told to stand in the changing room. Eventually an ambulance came and the paramedics were working on him for a while, and they took him away.
“I asked how he was, I was told he had a pulse when he was going to hospital. There was lots of lifeguards.”
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We received a call at 1.13pm today to attend an incident at Stonehaven Open Air Swimming Pool.
“We dispatched two Wildcat responders, a paramedic response unit and an ambulance to the scene.
“One male patient in his seventies was taken to the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.”
He is believed to be in a stable condition.
The man is said to have been visiting the pool with family.
People were offered vouchers for return visits to the facility.
A police spokeswoman confirmed officers had been “made aware” of the incident.
The pool is operated by a partnership between Aberdeenshire Council and the Friends of Stonehaven Open Air Pool.
A local authority spokeswoman said: “The pool has been closed while emergency services deal with the incident.”
A spokeswoman for the Friends group said it does not comment on “operational” matters.
