Boy, 4, dies a week after being pulled from Greenacres pool

GREENACRES — A 4-year-old boy has died a week after being pulled from a Greenacres-area community pool, according to Florida Department of Children and Families records.

The boy spent seven days in a medically induced coma before being pronounced dead Sept. 21, records show.

The boy, who neither Palm Beach County nor state authorities have identified by name, had spent hours Sept. 14 playing with his mother in a community pool at the Lucerne Lakes development west of the city, she told investigators.

The mother told authorities she took off the boy’s “floaties,” or inflatable armbands, as they were leaving the pool. On their way out, she stopped to chat with a neighbor. Two to five minutes later, she realized the boy was back in the pool.

She pulled him out of the pool while someone called 911, according to DCF records. Neighbors said they heard a woman crying and screaming, and saw firetrucks pull into the development on the 7200 block of Golf Colony Court, near Forest Oaks Golf Club.

Evelyn Hastings had poked her head outside to see what the commotion was about but had to turn around.

“It was just too sad,” the resident said.

The boy was rushed to Palms West Hospital in Loxahatchee, where he later died.

DCF lists the boy’s death as accidental. His family had never been reported to the department for any

abuse or neglect allegations, records show.

He is at least the fourth child to drown this year in Palm Beach County, according to DCF records. All have been younger than 5.

Children ages 1 to 4 have the highest drowning rate of any age group in Palm Beach County, according to data compiled by the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s Office and the state Office of Economic and Demographic Research.

“In a matter of minutes, a child can sustain permanent brain damage or die,” said Anna Stewart, manager of the Drowning Coalition of Palm Beach County. “The number one rule is supervision ... but we know that there can always be a breakdown.”

Anytime someone is near a body of water, a drowning can occur, Stewart said. So layers of protection — fences around pools, life jackets, swim lessons — are crucial.

“To us, learning to swim, it’s a lifesaving skill,” she said.

Last month, a 3-year-old reportedly drowned in his family’s pool while his father slept inside. Authorities said the toddler appeared to have been in the pool for “much longer” than 30 minutes.

In June, a 1-year-old Palm Springs girl drowned in a Palm Beach pool while visiting family members, and in February a 3-year-old boy with autism found his way out of the screened-in patio at his suburban Boca Raton home. He was found face down in water and died six days later.