Officials warn parents after Moultrie 5-year-old dies after swimming pool accident

MOULTRIE, GA (WALB) - Officials are warning parents about the dangers of swimming pools. This comes after a 5-year-old boy from Moultrie died on Wednesday from a tragic pool accident that happened over the weekend.

Moultrie YMCA Membership and Aquatics Director Leslie Peretti said the biggest thing for parents and swimming pool owners to remember are to have gates and doors that lead to indoor or outdoor pools locked at all times.

Swimming pool accidents can happen at any given time, which is why a number of parents are enrolling their kids in swim lessons.

"Tragic and no parents want to ever lose a child or anything and accidents do happen. And for that same reason we should be aware," said parent Fernando Tlalnepantla.

The Colquitt Sheriff's Office responded to a pool accident at the 100 block of Tallokas Circle on Saturday.

Now, a Moultrie family is mourning the death of a 5-year-old child.

Deputies said the child's relatives found him lying at the bottom of the pool after swimming in it earlier that day.

The child was taken to Colquitt Regional Hospital.

Then he was later airlifted to a hospital in Jacksonville.

He died on Tuesday after he was taken off of life support.

"My condolences to you and your family," said Tlalnepantla.

Tlalnepantla started taking his 5-year-old son to swim lessons a year ago for fear of just that.

"For me, it's their safety because you never know what can happen," Tlalnepantla explained.

Experts said swim lessons can be the difference between life and death.

"If a child were to fall into a pool that they can right themselves, and get to the side of the pool to get out or until a parent got to them," Peretti explained.

She said if the water is above their head, parents should be with their kids at all times.

Parents can also get kids started with the basic stroke as young as six months old.

"Maybe two children out of 80 can swim and by the end of the session, we might have six or eight, and to me that's a huge difference, that's lives being saved," Peretti said.

The Moultrie YMCA teaches more than 900 kids on basic water safety and provides swim lessons to them.

Copyright 2017 WALB. All rights reserved.

Keep up with WALB on the go! 
Follow us on social     and download our apps!