A 22-month old toddler nearly drowned in the pool of a home in Sydney’s north west this afternoon.

The baby boy was found unconscious and not breathing at the home in Castlewood Drive, Castle Hill, about 3pm. His parents began CPR until NSW Ambulance paramedics arrived.

CareFlight’s rapid response rescue helicopter landed shortly afterwards in a nearby reserve, where the medical team sedated and intubated him.

He was then taken by road ambulance to the Children’s Hospital at Westmead in a critical but stable and improving condition.