6-year-old critically injured in Taylorsville near-drowning

TAYLORSVILLE, Utah – A 6-year-old boy was listed in extremely critical condition Monday night, after police said he was discovered underwater in a neighborhood pool.

Unified Police Sgt. Melody Gray said first responders arrived around 7:30 p.m. to find a witness attempting to resuscitate the child at the side of the pool, located at 5486 S. Portside Way.

“Witnesses say that they believe he was underwater for five to seven minutes before someone pulled him out,” Gray said.

The boy was rushed to Primary Children’s Hospital, according to people who said they were tending to the 6-year-old at the time.

Cierra Mast said the boy had been in a neighboring hot tub with several people, but got up about seven minutes prior to the time he was found beneath the surface of the pool.

“He jumped into the pool, I feel like, or went down in a ladder and went under there, and he couldn’t move his arms fast enough so he couldn’t make any noise,” Mast said.

Gray said investigators were still looking into the events leading up to the boy’s near-drowning.

Mast said she was one of the people to help the boy out of the pool, and another neighbor attempted to resuscitate the child until paramedics arrived.

“The most important thing at that moment is to pull them out of the water and get air into their lungs as fast as possible,” said Bryan Lewis, a neighbor and a former lifeguard.

Lewis said after five to seven minutes, someone can be beyond the early stages of drowning.

“That’s something you never want to run into,” said neighbor Bryan Lewis, a former lifeguard and witness to the response. “It’s frightening.”

Gray encouraged all families to keep an adult poolside at all times when children are in and around the water.

“These things happen very fast, and the faster we can get them out improves their chances of survival dramatically,” Gray said.