Two nine-year-old girls were taken to hospital after a near drowning at the Kiwanis Boys and Girls Club of Hamilton.
Police and paramedics were called to the facility on Ellis Avenue shortly after 7 p.m. Friday during an open swim at the pool.
“Our lifeguards immediately noticed that there was a girl who seemed to be panicking in the deep end of our pool, fairly close to the wall,” said Duane Dahl, assistant executive director of the club. “She seemed to have swallowed some water and was grabbing onto the girl nearby … and pulled her under the water.”
Dahl said lifeguards at both ends of the pool responded right away and pulled the girls out of the pool, but the girl who had been panicking first was not breathing. He says staff performed CPR while paramedics were on their way.
By the time the paramedics took the girls to McMaster Children’s Hospital, he said they were alert and communicating, and although they were shaken up, they were both trying to joke a little bit as well.
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Both girls were kept in hospital overnight as a precautionary measure to prevent “secondary drowning”, which happens when there is water lingering in a person’s lungs after a near-drowning incident.
David Thompson, Hamilton Paramedic Supt., says the lifeguards at the Boys and Girls Club did a “fantastic job” prior to the arrival of paramedics. They were both taken to hospital in stable condition.
“The children are stable and safe, and we’re happy with that,” said Thompson.
Dahl said he’s very proud of the team at the Boys & Girls Club for acting so quickly to save the girls.
“It really shakes people up and reminds you of how quickly something can happen even in a fully supervised situation where somebody was able to see an incident and respond quickly. But seconds count.”
The club was closed for the remainder of the evening but is operating normally on Saturday.
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