Police: 1-year-old drowns in family swimming pool in Wrentham, Mass.

Boy was transported to Landmark

WRENTHAM- A local family was in mourning on FATHER'S Day Sunday after their youngest child drowned in an above ground pool in the yard Saturday night.

Angelo Nicoloro, months, was only out of sight of family members gathered for a celebration for seconds to a minute before his parents found him in the pool, Police Chief Bill McGrath said Sunday.

The toddler was the youngest of seven children in the family on Hillside Drive.

The pool was installed two weeks ago and was equipped with a retractable ladder, according to the police chief.

The 911 call about a possible drowning at the home near the Bellingham border came just after 8 p.m. Sunday.

When first responders arrived "they found family members doing CPR,” McGrath said.

A Bellingham ambulance responded because of its

proximity to the home as did Wrentham Police Officer Stephen Hearon.

“They did everything they could on the way to Landmark to save Angelo,” McGrath said, referring to Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket where the boy was pronounced dead.

“This is another tragedy. When it occurs it’s the only tragedy,” McGrath said, adding that the parents are “devastated.”

There was a large gathering at the home at the time of the incident, McGrath said, but the boy managed to escape notice in just seconds.

“It only takes a few seconds of opportunity for these little folks to find their way into a pool,” McGrath said, saying similar tragedies have occurred in town in the past.

The police chief said young children are always told to stay away from the pool but will find ways to get into them.

“They are curious. They are intelligent. They see that pool day in and day out as nothing but fun. There is no perception of danger in their little heads,” McGrath said.

“They wait for an opening and that opening can be in just seconds,” McGrath said.

The police chief said it is nearly impossible to prevent such incidents “100 percent.”

“All I can say is, and I’ve said this years ago when we had a similar drowning, is treat your pool as if it was a bonfire in your backyard,” McGrath said.

Preventing a drowning requires “extreme vigilance” similar to making sure a bonfire doesn’t get out of control, he said.

The hearts of the first responders, many of whom are parents, and the community, go out to the devastated father and family, McGrath said.

“No one today is having the Father’s Day that they were going to have yesterday,” McGrath said. “Today everyone is looking at their own kids and counting their blessings.”

The family is turning to their faith during this painful time, the police chief said.

McGrath said the mother told him that their son was so happy, pure and sin-free.

“She believes now, and the family does too, that he’s the saint now praying for them to keep them strong,” McGrath said.