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Jun 15, 2008 6:31 pm US/Central
2-Year-Old Drowns In Stillwater Backyard Pool
STILLWATER, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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"I saw him at the side door and the back door ... looking in to see what we were doing," said Stillwater Fire Capt. Ron Johnson.
CBS
A sad Father's Day for a Stillwater, Minn. dad after his young son fell into a backyard pool and drowned Saturday afternoon.
Police were called to the home on the 200 block of Sherburne Street about 1 p.m. Saturday. They say the 2-year-old boy accidentally fell into the backyard pool and drowned during a family gathering at the home.
"Just a tragic accident is what it appears to be," said Stillwater Police Sgt. Jeff Magler. "Lost track of the little boy for about a minute and when they found him they found him submerged at the bottom of the pool."
Police said the 2-year-old was in the water for about two minutes before his father spotted him.
"He was very, very distraught. You could see the grief on his face," said Stillwater Fire Captain Ron Johnson.
When firefighters and police arrived at the home they found the father at the side of the pool giving CPR to his son. Paramedics then rushed the boy to the ambulance. As they tried to revive him, the boy's frantic father pressed his face to the window.
"I saw him at the side door and the back door ... looking in to see what we were doing," said Johnson.
They rushed the toddler to United Hospital where the boy was pronounced dead about an hour-and-a-half later.
"There were a lot of tears at the hospital," said Johnson.
The boy's name hasn't been released. The family and neighbors were too distraught to talk about what happened.
A new report issued last month shows drowning is now the leading cause of unintentional death for children between ages 1 and 4; 79 percent of the children who drowned died in home pools.
Toddlers between the ages of 1 and 2 are most at risk. And on average 2,700 children are treated each year in the emergency room after being submerged in pools or spas.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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