The man who looked after a two-year-old boy on the day he became critically ill has told an inquest he has "nothing to hide".
Darcy Atkinson died from brain injuries on December 7, 2012 on the NSW Central Coast after being rushed to hospital the previous day.
The toddler had been in the care of his mother's then boyfriend, Adam Taylor, when about 1.30pm on December 6, triple zero received a call saying the boy was ill.
An inquest heard Mr Taylor told the operator: "Oh, what have I done."
Deputy State Coroner Hugh Dillon asked why he said that.
"At the time I absolutely felt responsible because he was in my care," Mr Taylor told Glebe Coroners Court.
"You thought your care had lapsed?" Mr Dillon asked.
"Yeah, well, he was very, very ill," Mr Taylor replied.
Mr Taylor said the pair had walked down to the nearby lagoon at Avoca Beach that morning and had gone paddle-boarding.
While on the board, he said Darcy fell backwards and he heard a "thud".
"It happened in a split second ... it was almost as though he was going to go into the water. I grabbed him and put him back (on the board)," Mr Taylor said.
Later that day, Mr Taylor said he had jumped into the pool while holding on to Darcy and the two-year-old had coughed up water, before vomiting twice.
Darcy then began having problems "vocalising".
"That's when I thought he seemed out of sorts," Mr Taylor said, so he took him inside.
Then Darcy vomited again and while in a bath, he became rigid.
"What about the look in his eyes?" counsel assisting Warwick Hunt asked.
"It was like he wasn't there," Mr Taylor replied.
Mr Taylor said he wasn't responsible for bruising on Darcy's ears, which the inquest has heard is consistent with pressure having been applied to them.
During a heated exchange that followed, Mr Hunt said: "You are very defensive. ... It looks like you are trying to hide something.
"This is an opportunity to tell us truthfully what happened to the boy."
Mr Taylor replied: "I have nothing to hide."
Neurosurgeon Dr Warwick Stening told the inquest he believed the boy had an epileptic fit induced by low sodium in his brain, caused by swallowing fresh water.
"By the time he (Darcy) got to Gosford Hospital, he had gone past the point of no return," he told the inquest.
It would have only taken one jump in the pool for a second to swallow a lung full of water, Dr Stening said.
The inquest continues.
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