A SIX-month old baby, submerged face-down in the icy waters of the Bristol Channel for almost five minutes when gusty weather blew his pushchair off Watchet's West Pier, is bouncing back to health.

Sam Cooper-Stevens was with his mother Kate Cooper and the family's two dogs when the freak accident happened just after 8am last Sunday.

A huge community effort, involving the heroic actions of local people who pulled him from the water and carried out lifesaving treatment, coupled with a swift response from a range of emergency services, saved the youngster's life.

And despite still being treated at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, where he was flown by the Devon Air Ambulance, Sam appears to have survived the horrific incident unscathed.

Incredibly, he was expected to be released from hospital by the end of this week.

Grandmother Elaine Stevens said: "It is an absolute miracle, absolutely amazing that he has come through this and is all right."

Mrs Stevens said her son Martyn - Sam's father - and Kate were gradually recovering from the shock of almost losing their only child.

"It's been very difficult but everyone is very positive now," she said.

"Sam loves the Winnie the Pooh character Tigger and is always bouncing.

"And although it may not seem much to anyone else, to see him bouncing in hospital this week was just fantastic."

Meanwhile, 35-year-old Martyn, who works as a recycling operative, has issued his heartfelt thanks to everyone involved in saving his son.

"It just shows what a great place Watchet is," he said.

And he is so grateful for the expertise of the Devon Air Ambulance pilots who landed their helicopter in difficult conditions and the speed with which they transferred Sam to hospital, that he intends to do a sponsored sky dive later this year to raise money for the service, which relies entirely on donations.

The drama unfolded when in a split second a sudden gust of wind literally swept Sam's buggy off the pier.

The piercing screams of his distraught mother, a 34-year-old chef who is currently on maternity leave, alerted dockmaster George Reeder.

The 63-year-old was in the marina offices on the nearby Esplanade making bacon butties for a party of local fishermen.

"They were outside and they said there was a bit of a commotion going on at the West Pier," he said.

"I thought a dog had gone in the water so I jumped on my bike and cycled over.

"But when I got there I found a woman on her knees shouting for help and saying her baby was in the sea.

"I ran over and saw the buggy floating."

Without stopping even to take his boots off, the former coastguard jumped around 20 feet off the harbour wall into the sea.

"As soon as I reached the buggy I turned it over so the baby's face was out of the water - he was still strapped in - and then I paddled back to the side," he said.

"By this time somebody had put a rope down the wall so I attached the buggy to it and it was pulled to the top.

"I'm certainly no hero and it wasn't just down to me.

"A lot of people were involved in this rescue but what matters is that we saved a life - and that does make me smile."

Tanya Allen and her partner Ben, who live just yards away, and another near neighbour, well known local bagpipe player Fred Bacon, were among the people pulling the buggy to the top of the wall.

Tanya, a psychiatric nurse, had been trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation but had never had to do it.

However, instinct took over and once Sam was out of the buggy she started carrying out chest compressions on him.

He appeared to be not breathing but she was still worried her efforts might hurt his tiny body.

"But then I thought, well if I don't do anything this is going to be disastrous," she said.

"I didn't think he was going to survive, to be honest, no.

"But some water started to come out of his mouth and he started to take a few breaths.

"I am so pleased that I have been trained several times, year after year in life support and that I could use it when I needed to."

Sam's rescuer George was back on dry land just in time to see him taking his first tentative breaths after being picked up by local fisherman Shaun Anning and Steve Yeandle aboard Shaun's boat Sea Fire.

Ben, meanwhile, had called 999 before Sam had even been pulled out of the water.

And he had also alerted Martyn, who was still at the family home in West Street just 500 yards away from the scene of the incident.

That early call ensured that Watchet's coastguard team also arrived as the buggy came out of the water.

Team member Simon Bale took over the CPR from Tanya.

"Luckily, we were all up early because we were due to do some radio training," said Simon.

"I put Sam on his side and carried on with the chest compressions.

"He was sick but because he is just a baby it was very hard to tell if he was breathing fully or not."

The rest of the coastguard team was helping to co-ordinate the landing of the air ambulance, while the arrival of a ground vehicle ambulance was also awaited.

"It seemed like an eternity but in reality it probably was just minutes," said Simon.

"A fire brigade co-responder team from Williton also arrived very quickly.

"We cut Sam's clothes off and were just trying to get him warm.

"He was wrapped in a blanket and I sprinted with him to the co-responders' Land Rover."

Together with co-responder Gary Austin-Thompson and other team members, Simon stayed in the vehicle with Sam while he was given oxygen and the chest compressions were continued.

"Kate was with Sam all the way through - there was no way she was going to leave him," said Simon.

"Once the ground ambulance arrived, the paramedics took over."

Simon has kept in touch with the family this week and on Wednesday was given an encouraging update on Sam's condition.

"All the tubes and lines that had been put in have been removed and the doctors and nurses are now just monitoring him, which is fantastic news," he said.

"Everyone is saying it's a miracle and it really is.

"It was the result of a massive community effort, a massive chain reaction of everyone pulling together and doing everything they could and as quickly as they could to save Sam.

"The family is over the moon."

George Reeder and his wife Anne caught up with Sam's progress when they visited him in hospital on Wednesday.

"He looked absolutely fine and Kate and Martyn were fine as well," said George.

"We're planning a get-together when they get home but they said thank you again, which wasn't necessary.

"We're all so glad it turned out to be such a good news story - Sam is a little miracle."

Kate has also since spoken of the moment she feared Sam was dead.

"I thought he had been under for far too long," she said.

"I was just collapsed on the pier screaming. I thought that was it, he was gone.

But Kate said when Sam was pulled from the water and Tanya began giving him CPR, "he took that breath in, which was amazing to see."

Kate said when the buggy skidded over the edge of the pier she had begun to strip off her clothes, preparing to jump in.

But something in the back of her brain told her not to do it, otherwise rescuers would be fishing two bodies out of the water.

"The emergency services have since told me that not jumping in was the best decision I could have made because I wouldn't have been able to hold Sam up and scream for help at the same time."

Martyn could only reiterate his thanks to everyone involved.

"The response of everyone is pretty amazing, from George and Tanya to the air ambulance and the doctors and nurses at the hospital," he said.

"The support we've received from so many people has been brilliant.

"Sam is doing really well and continuing to recover.

"It was just a freak situation. But he's alive and that's what counts."