Child dies after being pulled from pond in northeast Calgary community

EDITOR’S NOTE: A previous version of this story stated the boy was found in the Saddletown neighbourhood. This has been corrected to the proper neighbourhood of Saddle Ridge.

A five-year-old boy who was pulled from a body of water in Saddle Ridge and rushed to hospital Friday evening has died, police confirmed Saturday.

EMS was called around 5:15 p.m. at the request of police, who were already at the scene near the intersection of 60 Street NE and 88 Avenue NE.

According to EMS, the boy was pulled from a retention pond by a bystander.

“Our information is that it was just by chance that he was in the area. Just something that caught his attention. For better or for worse, he recognized that there may have been an object or something in the retention pond,” EMS public education officer Stuart Brideaux said.

“He entered and determined it was the young male patient and quickly brought him to the bank where waiting fire crews and EMS could assume care.”

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The boy was rushed to the Peter Lougheed Centre in critical, life-threatening condition, though in an update Friday evening EMS said he was “more stable.”

EMS praised the bystander for his quick actions.

Nearby resident Linda Gregoire told Global News that neighbours were looking for the boy at around 4:10 p.m.

The boy was reported missing to police shortly after.

Gregoire said she saw the child being retrieved about 20 feet from the water’s edge.

“They pulled him out and he was very lethargic. They started doing CPR on him, they got him on a stretcher and they were doing chest pumps,” Gregoire said.

“My heart just kind of… because I have young grandchildren. My heart just went up in my throat.”

Police are investigating how the child ended up in the pond.

The bystander did not need medical attention.