2-year-old drowns in Petersburg backyard pool

PETERSBURG, Va. (WWBT) -In one week, three children have now drowned in Central Virginia.

The latest tragedy happened Sunday, June 22, in Petersburg off Young’s Road near the 1700 block. Petersburg Police say it was in an above-ground pool.

The family had been hanging out in the backyard all day, but the toddler wandered back outside after going inside.

“They found that the young man had been submerged underwater for an extended period of time, unknown. Family members located him in the pool, EMS, fire personnel came, arrived on scene and started to initiate CPR methods to try to revive the young man. He was later transported to our local hospital in which he was ultimately pronounced deceased,” Petersburg Police Chief Travis Christian said.

Chief Christian says these incidents can happen in seconds. That is why he advises families to provide flotation devices for children and remove toys from the water that could tempt kids once they are done playing.

He also says families should have fences for backyard pools and ensure they are correctly closed.

“A small child can drown in a small amount of water, so always be mindful of where your kids are during this time of year when they’re out having fun in the water. Ultimately, we want to keep our kids safe, and pools are dangerous, so you have to respect the water,” Chief Christian said.

The other two incidents happened in Henrico and Chesterfield. The child in Chesterfield passed away more than a week after they drowned in a community pool.

The Henrico toddler drowned in a backyard pool off of Bowers Lane.

The YMCA of Greater Richmond is noticing the alarming trend and sees it happening nationwide.

Chrissy Fandel is the organization’s Executive Director of Drowning Prevention.

Fandel just started this month, as she says it is a new role to try to help bring down the tragic numbers.

“We have really identified an increase in drowning events across the country,” Fandel said. ”The CDC’s information shares that 4,500 individuals drown annually, about two children each day have a fatal drowning incident in our country, and we just know that with these statistics and these numbers, being able to prevent drowning and educate families, caregivers, communities, whether they have access to pools or whether they have bodies of water in and around, there’s going to be water everywhere.”

The YMCA offers swim lessons for kids as young as six months old.

Fandel is also helping with a learn to swim program, a partnership with other local aquatic agencies to provide lessons.

It also offers financial assistance and support to ensure that learning to swim is accessible to everyone.

“The most important thing is that adult supervision around water, especially when you’re at a pool, but even when you’re never intending to get wet in the first place,” Fandel said. “A lot of accidental drownings happen from people falling in and around the water, and so just being very mindful of your surroundings, being mindful of who is with you and always having eyes on the water. It’s all of our responsibility to prevent drowning.”

Fandel says drownings can happen even in a bathtub, and can happen fast and are often silent.

That is why she says always being alert around any body of water is key, and it all requires a joint community effort.