Child Injury Lawyer Blog
By David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
On August 12 9-year-old boy, Trevor Howe, ran outside of his home chasing after his family’s Labrador retriever, Sweetpea. However, when Trevor’s parents discovered Sweetpea had returned to the home without Trevor, Trevor’s parents rushed to a nearby pond to look for their son. When they arrived at the pond medical personnel were already working on Trevor’s unconscious body. Trevor died four days later at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.
Two Louisiana families suffered a major tragedy after teens from both families drowned. The seven teenagers were playing in the shallow waters of the Red River when one teen stepped of the slippery ledge and plummeted into much deeper waters. The other teens tried to save the boy, but they too were overpowered by the water and taken into the deeper water. The onlooking relatives, who could also not swim, desparately screamed for help as they watched their teens vanish and drown.
Paul Sniffen, a 6-year-old boy, was finally identified as the boy who drowned in a public pool in Castro Valley, California while on an outing with his day care center. Paul was found in about 4-feet of water at the Castro Valley Swim Center, he was pronounced dead at Eden Medical Center. The Center has different pools including a shallow pool, which has a depth of about 2 1/2-feet, and a deep pool, which has a depth of about 12-feet. Paul was observed playing in the shallow pool and, sometime later, he had moved to the deeper area of the pool. It was unknown how well Paul could swim. The Sheriff’s Department is conducting an investigation regrading the circumstances of Paul’s death. If you would like to read more on this story see 
New York State Police say Aaron Davies, a 2-year-old boy, drowned in an above-ground pool located in the backyard of the toddler’s residential daycare facility in Greenville, New York. Aaron and nine other children were cared for by three women at the day care, which is unlicensed. Allegedly, while the children were in the backyard, the toddler climbed the ladder leading up to the pool without being noticed and entered the pool. It is believed the toddler was underwater for 3 minutes before he was found by the adults working at the day care. Rescue personnel was called and performed CPR on the toddler until he arrived at Albany Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead. If you would like to read more on this story see 
Swimming accidents left three people dead, as a result of drowning, across the State of New York on Saturday, July 3. Fajir Javid, 9, of New York City had been camping at the Willington Lake Campground in Willington, New York with her family, other children and adults involved in a scouting organization. Javid was swimming with adults and other children when one of them noticed her missing. Adults immediately began searching for Javid while others called police. About 45 minutes after the Willington Fire Department and emergency divers arrived, Javid was found. Javid was located in about 10 feet of water, 25-30 feet off shore. The girl was taken to Johnson Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Ursula Lerse, 85, a resident of New Milford, New York, drowned while swimming in Candlewood Lake. Lerse was found by a firefighter about 20 feet from shore. Juan C. Lopez of Jamaica, New York drowned while swimming at Bull’s Bridge. You can read more about this at 
Although school has been out for only one month, there have been two, fatal drownings at local apartment complexes in Lawrenceville, Georgia. One victim, was a unidentified 4-year-old girl who drowned on Father’s Day. The girl was pulled from the Durant at Sugarloaf Apartments’ pool during the holiday evening. Firefighters were unable to resuscitate the child despite performing CPR on the way to the hospital. The other victim, a 7-year-old child, was found unconscious in the Amli McGinnis Ferry apartment complex pool. In 2006, the fire department responded to 28 near-drowning incidents.
Spring and Summer months bring with them better weather and more swimmers. It is a great time for parents to think about water safety and about providing their children with qualified swimming lessons. Many YMCAs and other community centers through the nation offer baby water safety classes. It is a great gift for a parent to provide a child with the skills necessary to swim. Children are curious and have poor safety awareness. Some children unexpectedly fall into water including pools, lakes, and other areas. As such, a child, who has been provided swim lessons, may very well have a less likelihood of drowning and suffering drowning related injuries than a child with no training or experience with the water. Parents should check out local YMCAs and other groups and consider enrolling a small child in a swimming class. There are many qualified swimming instructors and programs out there. It is important for a parent to ask a lot of questions including the following:
