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A mother turns her back for a moment, and when she looks again, her toddler is face down in a pond.
That was the case for a Goose Creek mother Wednesday. The mother immediately got the child out of the water and performed CPR, saving the childs life. The toddler was rushed to the hospital and appears to be in good condition according to Goose Creek Public Information Officer, Casey Hoskins.
But one mother wasn't so lucky. It's a regular occurence in the Summer. The hot-humid weather attracks hoards of children to the area pools. Often children swallow some water, cough it up and they're fine. That's what Cassandra Jackson thought happened to her son on Sunday.
Jonny Jackson’s first time swimming in a pool was the last day of his life according to his mother. Johnny was swimming in the shallow end of the pool, about three feet deep, when he swallowed water. Afterward, Jonny just seemed really tired, so his mother laid him down, and a half an hour later he was dead.
The Jackson’s family friend and the woman who found Johnny, Christine Meekins, said lying him down may have been a mistake.
“As long as he was up, the water wasn’t cutting off his oxygen,” Meekins said.
Berkeley County Coroner Glenn Rhoads said the boy's lungs were filled with water and he died of asphyxiation.
“To understand, you’ve got to imagine a jug half full of water and you lay it on its side, and it blocks the passage,” he explained.
Coroner Rhoads says he is awaiting a final autopsy to reveal how much water was still in Jackson’s lungs, but Isabel Virella-Lowell, a pulmonary pediatrician at the Medical University of South Carolina, said it doesn’t take much to drown.
“Most people don’t take in a whole lot of water, maybe an ounce for every two pounds,” she said.
Jonny weighed 75 pounds, so he would have only had to take in 33 ounces of water, the equivalent of about 3 1/2 regular sized glasses of water.
Drowning can occur up to 72 hours after the initial water intake, and it’s important to know the warning signs.
If a parent or guardian notices odd behavior such as shortness of breath, a coma-like state, persistent cough, lack of awareness, tiredness or anxiousness, the child should be taken to the closest emergency room, Dr. Virella-Lowell said.
“The fact that he wasn’t completely back to normal, is what parents have to look for,” she said.
Unfortunately, Dr. Virella-Lowell says 65 percent of victims who die from drowning cannot swim. She added drowning is more predominant among males and African Americans. Ten-year-old Johnny was an African American male who had never had a swim lesson.
To prevent drowning, Dr. Virella-Lowell said all children should learn to swim, barriers should be placed around pools and children should always be supervised.
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