A toddler has been flown to hospital after being found face down in the water at Tuggerah Lake on the Central Coast.

The two-year-old had been with his family at a beach on the side of a lake when the child wandered into the water.

Paramedics estimate the child had been in the water about 20 seconds before being pulled out.

The boy has been airlifted to John Hunter Hospital in a stable condition.

Brad Gee from NSW Ambulance tells Warren Moore the child is responding well to treatment.

“He did ingest quite a lot of seawater.

“Thankfully we managed to get a lot of that out prior to Westpac arriving and he was stabilised.”

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Australian swimming coach Laurie Lawrence has long been a water safety campaigner.

He’s urging all parents to keep a close eye on their children when they’re in, or close to, water.

“I think it’s the major one, supervision,” he says.

“That’s why the lifesavers have got the flags up. But because they’re supervising doesn’t mean you don’t have to worry about your own little one down there at the beach.”

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