Tragedy struck a neighborhood of Point Loma on Wednesday, August 14, when a toddler was found to have drowned in a backyard pool of a home in the 1600 block of Chatsworth Boulevard.
San Diego police officers responded to a call from a woman who reported that a 2-year-old was drowning in a pool at around 3:15 p.m. Although officers and medics attempted CPR, the child succumbed to the drowning, SDPD Officer J. Perales said.
The exact address of the home is not known, but there appears to be at least 3 backyard pools on that block of Chatsworth.
SDPD’s Child Abuse Unit is handling the investigation, according to the department. This is standard protocol for incidents involving young children.
Fortunately, a nearby similar incident was avoided just two weeks earlier when first responders on Wednesday, July 30 revived a toddler from a near drowning from a pool on West Point Loma Boulevard.
The rescue occurred around 3:59 p.m. in the pool. The two-year-old, who was awake and breathing, was taken to the hospital for evaluation, according to San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
As a father of a former toddler — and now grandparent of others — I’ve been especially keen on picking up sad news like this and have noticed it happens just about every summer in San Diego, where young children are left alone around pools or ponds — and tragedy strikes. I keep asking myself, when are adults in this town going to become aware of the dangers of allowing young kids near water? It’s so tragic and so avoidable.
Please — if you — or someone you know — has a pool in their yard, ensure there’s plenty of safety measures in place to prevent these kind of horrible incidents.
