Boy dies from drowning accident

Pulled from Lake Kaweah Sunday evening

A 5-year-old boy died Monday from a drowning accident Sunday at Lake Kaweah, the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office reported.

TCSO deputies responded Sunday to a near-drowning of a 5-year-old boy at Lake Kaweah. On Monday, V. Damian Ellis, of Visalia, passed away at Valley Children’s Hospital.

He was on a house boat with his family. It was anchored near the shore at Greasy Cove.

At 6:25 p.m., a 911 call was made reporting the near drowning., TCSO reported.

While Ellis had been wearing a life jacket, he had taken it off while he watched a movie because he was cold. A commotion was heard from an 8-year-old brother who was trying to get the 5-yearold Ellis out of the water after he fell off the rear of the boat, TCSO reported.

Others got Ellis to shore and started CPR, including a nurse and a respiratory nurse who were nearby. A wife of one of the nurses drove her boat to find the Sheriff’s Deputies assigned to Lake

Kaweah who were en route, responding to the 911 call, TCSO reported. The deputies responded by boat and transported Ellis to the Marina where an ambulance met them, TCSO reported. CPR was ongoing as the boy was handed off to EMS. Ellis was taken to Kaweah Delta Medical Center for evaluation and then flown to Valley Children’s Hospital for treatment, TCSO reported.

The Sheriff’s Office stated, “We would like to remind everyone that children under the age of 13 must wear life jackets while on a boat or personal watercraft in motion on the water.”