Articles Posted in Swimming Pool Accidents

Two young boys — Marcus Tucker, 4, and 1-year-old Micah Tucker — died in a swimming pool accident after they drowned in the backyard pool of a Bakersfield home. According to an ABC News report, the brothers drowned the morning of March 17, 2010 when the boys’ mother, Candice Tucker, was at work. She had left the boys with her two roommates. One roommate was sleeping and another was in the bathroom when the boys went to the backyard and somehow fell into the pool. Family members believed that Micah must have accidentally fallen in and Marcus must have jumped in to save him. Both boys were found at the bottom of the pool.

This is a heartbreaking story. I offer my deepest condolences to the mother, Candice Tucker. I can only imagine the guilt and grief she must be feeling at this point. This family will certainly be in my thoughts and prayers.
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We aren’t even in the thick of summer yet but a surge in Southern California swimming pool accidents involving drowning and near drowning in the region has Southern California officials very concerned. According to a news report in The Press-Enterprise, Riverside County is on track to have more children drown this year than in 2008. Four boys, all under the age of 5, have drowned so far, in backyard pools, according to the Riverside County Department of Public Health. During 2008, seven children drowned across the county while in 2007 there were nine drowning incidents.

Officials also say that near-drowning incidents are increasing. Just on a recent Sunday, Riverside County had three near-drowning incidents and San Bernardino County had two. Local authorities are extremely worried because they are seeing this spate of swimming pool accidents even before the official start of summer.

Drowning is the leading cause of death for children younger than 5 in California. More than 80 percent of drowning and near drowning occur in backyard swimming pools, often because of a very brief period of inattention or lack of supervision. This year, officials are seeing some “new twists.” In two cases, children escaped into the swimming pool through dog doors. In other cases, children fell into murky, unmaintained pools in occupied homes.
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A 2-year-old boy nearly drowned after he fell into a backyard swimming pool in Rialto the afternoon of February 27, 2009, the San Bernardino Sun reports in this article. The toddler’s family members told Rialto fire officials that the toddler fell into the pool in the 1900 block of North Joyce Avenue while playing with another child. The other child then got a sibling to pull the toddler out of the swimming pool. An adult started doing CPR on the child. The children apparently got to the pool area through a sliding door.

When paramedics arrived on the scene, the toddler had a pulse, but wasn’t breathing. Thankfully, he started recovering on the way to the hospital. Fire officials told the newspaper that people should be watchful especially in California where good weather keeps families using their pools through the year. San Bernardino swimming pool accidents do not happen only in the summer, especially in California. Swimming pool safety cannot be overemphasized in Southern California.

It is extremely fortunate that this little boy survived this swimming pool accident. Young children, if they do not drown, can be left with catastrophic injuries to the brain after a near-drowning because very often this cuts off oxygen supply to the brain. The cost of treating these brain injuries can be extremely high and could run into millions of dollars. I hope this child in Rialto wasn’t seriously injured and I wish him the very best for a quick and complete recovery.
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A 3-year-old boy in Orange County has survived a near-drowning incident after his older brother rescued him from the bottom of a swimming pool the afternoon of February 1, 2009. According to this news report in The Orange County Register, the boy’s family was visiting a home at Via Divertirse in San Clemente.

Officials said the toddler’s 7-year-old brother, who saw him at the bottom of the backyard swimming pool, dove in and pulled his brother up. The 3-year-old was said to be breathing when paramedics arrived. The toddler is apparently recovering after the near-drowning, but the extent of his injuries is not known.

I’m extremely relieved for the young boy, his family and the hosts who were apparently entertaining this family over the weekend. I wish the young boy the very best for a quick and complete recovery. This family will certainly be in my prayers.

Although it is extremely fortunate that this child did not drown, near-drowning incidents are serious because in these cases, oxygen supply to the brain is cut off, which can leave a child with lifelong brain injuries. Medical expenses in a near-drowning incident could easily run into millions of dollars. Almost every summer, our firm represents a family whose loved one drowned or almost drowned because of the negligence of a homeowner.
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A 2-year-old boy is in critical condition after he nearly drowned in his family pool on January 11, 2009, According to a Desert Sun article. The toddler, whose name was not released, was found after his mother noticed him missing from the house. The child was found submerged in the pool. Emergency personnel performed CPR on the toddler and transported him to a local hospital. The child is said to be hanging on to his life.

My heart goes out to this Riverside County family. I’m extremely glad that the child survived what could have been a fatal Riverside swimming pool accident. I hope the little one makes it out of this nightmare and I will pray for his quick and complete recovery.

This news report does not give any information about how the child got into the pool. Was there a gate around the pool? Was the pool gate closed or locked? These are important questions to ask. Had that child been a neighbor’s child or a visiting child that had fallen into the pool, the homeowners could be held financially responsible for the near drowning.
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Eighteen-month-old Isabelle Jenkins and 2-year-old Tyler Frey-Cruz were two Orange County children who died in two separate swimming pool drowning accidents, The Orange County Register reports. We obtained the girl’s identity from an Orange County Coroner’s press release. The two drowning incidents occurred within three days last week when we’ve had summer-like weather conditions in Southern California.

Tyler drowned in a backyard pool in Irvine on November 12, 2008 while Isabelle drowned in an in-ground spa next to a backyard pool in Mission Viejo on November 14, 2008. Police officials in Irvine and Mission Viejo are trying to figure out how the children gained access to the water. In Tyler’s case, his grandfather who was babysitting him was apparently talking on the phone for a few minutes when he took his eyes off the toddler. The man found his grandchild floating the pool. It is not clear how Isabelle drowned.

My heart goes out to the families of both these young children. What a terrible and heartbreaking, yet, preventable tragedy! Please keep these children’s parents in your prayers.
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Even as the summer season is drawing to a close, two more child drownings were reported this week in the Southland. The first one occurred in Walnut, in the 700 block of Janice Lane, and involved a 3-year-old boy who drowned in the family’s Jacuzzi Sept. 15, according to this news report. The second incident occurred in Fontana, in the 8700 block of Tangelo Avenue, when a toddler girl of almost 2 years old, drowned in the family’s backyard pool, according to this article.

Our hearts go out to these two Southern California families. Please keep them in your prayers.

What the rest of us need to learn from these tragedies is that we cannot take our little ones for granted. We cannot let them out of sight even for a few minutes. According to Fontana police, the girl had been out of sight for five or 10 minutes. The girl had walked to the backyard, opened the pool fence door (which had a latch but had not hooked) and fell in. By the time her parents found her and pulled her out of the water, it was too late. Attempts at resuscitating her were unsuccessful and she was pronounced dead at the hospital.
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