PULLING on his Little Lifesaver rash shirt, Luka Davey whispers, "I saved a little boy's life".

Regardless of whether he fully comprehends the enormity of his actions or not, the four-year-old's heroic efforts have earned him a Surf Lifesaving Queensland Lifesaving Excellence Award.

On November 15 last year, Luka was paddling around Kings Beach swimming pool when he saw another four-year-old in trouble.

"A little boy was struggling in the water and going under," Luka's mum, Michelle, said.

"Luka has offered him his swimming noodle and helped him up, got him to hang on and dragged him to where he could stand up.

"Luka couldn't really swim himself - he'd only had three swimming lessons."

Michelle said she was proud of him, as was Luka's grandmother, who saw the rescue and alerted Surf Lifesaving Queensland.

As a result, SLSQ regional manager Aaron Purchase visited Luka and his classmates yesterday at Goodstart Early Learning in Caloundra to present him with his award.

"We thought it was a very good thing for a four-year-old to take the initiative and go and help a mate like that," he said.

"It's a very special thing for a four-year-old to save someone.

"It's good for them to learn how to swim, but also recognise when someone else is in trouble and take that initiative and go help them.

"It's extremely important, not just at the beach, but in household pools."

Michelle is looking into enrolling Luka in nippers next year, once he turns six.

"He sees it (surf lifesaving) on the TV and says, 'I want to do that'," she said. "He's talking about it a lot more."