Parents ‘devastated’ after son dies in pool
Four-year-old boy loved to swim
HAMILTON — On Saturday night the parents of a four-year old boy went looking for him.
Their home is on Hamilton’s Edgemont Street North, near Dunsmure Road, about a 15minute walk from Gage Park.
The single-storey house is cluttered, undergoing major renovations.
The parents may have been distracted that evening, a police officer said, and lost track of him.
Earlier on that blistering hot day, the boy’s father had removed the winter cover from their backyard above-ground pool.
It was partially filled with water left over from last year and not yet topped up.
Their son loved to swim. He was taking swimming lessons.
He climbed a few steps to get to the pool.
Perhaps it will never be known what happened next, if he fell in, or lowered himself down.
“Maybe he was excited because the pool was being opened; we don’t know,” said Det. Sgt. Steve Bereziuk, with Hamilton Police.
At about 7 p.m. the parents found him in the pool. He was not breathing.
They phoned 911 and performed CPR. Firefighters arrived and resumed CPR along with paramedics.
He was VSA: vital signs absent.
He was taken to Hamilton General Hospital in an ambulance and pronounced dead at about 8 p.m.
“The parents are devastated,” said Bereziuk, who met with them at Hamilton General Hospital at about 9:30 that night.
The family asked that police not release the boy’s name, or the family name.
The incident is a coroner’s investigation and an autopsy was conducted Sunday morning, with a police officer present by protocol.
The Hamilton Police homicide unit is assisting with the investigation but Bereziuk said they don’t suspect foul play is involved.
“It’s a tragic incident, and coming on Father’s Day weekend ... very sad.”
He said the boy had a large and closely-knit extended family, with strong faith.