A BOY brought back from the dead after he was submerged in an icy river for five minutes has thanked the fire heroes who saved his life.

Connor Scott, aged six, was not breathing when he was rescued from the murky depths of the River Tonge in Bolton.

The schoolboy was plucked out of the water by firemen who gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on the river bank.

And on Tuesday he visited his lifesavers at Bolton's Moor Lane Fire Station with a heartfelt "thank you for saving my life" message.

Connor was lucky to survive his ordeal on March 6.

He was playing with two friends in a field when he slipped and fell into nettles above the river before plunging 30 feet into the water below.

He was face down at the bottom of the 3ft 6ins deep river for around five minutes and his body temperature dropped to 22 degrees centigrade.

His parents, Lee Scott and Jade Keegan, joined Connor at the fire station and presented his lifesavers with a crate of beer. Ms Keegan, aged 31, said: "I just wanted to kiss and cuddle them all for what they had done! Connor thinks the firefighters are brilliant, though he says he doesn't want to be a fireman when he grows up - because he doesn't like fires!

"But his friend bought him a toy fire engine after the accident and he's been playing with it ever since."

Connor was taken to the Royal Bolton Hospital after his ordeal and later transferred to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital at Pendlebur where he was on a ventilator.

Ms Keegan said: "When I got to the hospital I was told his heart had stopped beating at some point and that the next 24 hours would be crucial."

She added: "We just can't believe how well he has been since he recovered."

Just a day-and-a-half after the incident, Connor was back home in Little Lever and a week later even returned to his desk at Bowness Primary School.

Doctors say it was the temperature of the river and Connor's young age that saved his life. Despite his body temperature being at 22 degrees centigrade a healthy person's is 37 he survived because the cold water protected his brain from the lack of oxygen.

Fire chief Jim O'Byrne said: "Ninety-nine out of every 100 of these incidents are fatal. It is only due to the professionalism of the team, and the paramedics, that he is here."