Grants Pass, Ore.- A 16 year old boy drowned this weekend at the YMCA in Grants Pass. Both police and facility employees say it was a tragic accident.
Employees at the Grants Pass YMCA told NBC5 News that their heart breaks for the 16 year old boy and his family. They’ve never dealt with anything like this before at their facility.
The boy, who has not been identified, came to the Grants Pass YMCA with his grandma, according to Kevin Clark the manager at the YMCA in Grants Pass.
“She told our staff when she came in that he was a good swimmer, that he was special needs,” Clark says.
After that, lifeguards were keeping an eye out. Clark says they saw the boy swimming in water 6 feet deep. Then, he turned towards the deep tank where the diving board is and started to swim under the water. That’s when the two lifeguards on duty began to watch the 16 year old boy more closely.
Clark says initially everything looked normal. But soon, lifeguards realized something was wrong.
The YMCA called 911 and paramedics rushed to save the boy.
According to Clark, “They were unable to get a heartbeat while they were here. They took him out to the ambulance and were able to get a pulse again.”
But several attempts to revive him at the hospital were unsuccessful and the 16 year old boy was pronounced dead.
The tragedy, Clark says, has hit everyone extremely hard.
“There’s no words that I can say. The lifeguards are having a difficult time. They gave everything they had.”
Now the investigation into the drowning is now in the hands of the medical examiner.
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