An 18-month-old North Cowichan boy may be too young to remember much about his quick ordeal in his family’s backyard pool on Grant Road on Aug. 4 and his trip to the hospital in an ambulance.
But it’s an afternoon his mother, who asked not to be named, won’t likely forget any time soon as emergency crews raced to her house and a helicopter that was dispatched by BC Emergency Health Services landed at the nearby Maple Bay Elementary School in case it was needed.
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The mother said her older son was swimming in the pool at about 4 p.m., when temperatures in the Valley were burning hot on the summer Tuesday, and she momentarily turned her attention to him to get him clothed after he exited the pool.
She said in a matter of just a few seconds, she heard a splash and saw her younger son in the pool.
“I jumped in right away and pulled him out,” she said.
“[The boy] was crying but was totally OK. The whole thing was over in less than 30 seconds, but I was really concerned about him and called for help.”
She said, although an ambulance air crew had arrived in case the situation required her son to be quickly transported to a hospital, emergency personnel on scene placed him in a ground ambulance and took him to Cowichan District Hospital to be assessed.
“They wanted to make sure he had not inhaled any water,” she said.
“They looked him over at the hospital, determined he was fine, and we were on our way home within 25 minutes.”
The mother said the family is considering ways to ensure their backyard pool is secure in the future to prevent another incident.
“We’d like to thank emergency services for all their help,” she said.
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