Three-year-old drowns in Westville pool

A CAPE Town toddler, three-year-old Ashton Owen Perumal, drowned on Christmas Day in a Westville pool while on holiday with his parents.

According to reports the family was about to go out and while waiting, the three -year-old joined other children playing with a ball outside.

The ball landed in the pool and Ashton went after it, slipped and fell into the pool. The children ran inside to call the adults and Ashton’s mother rushed out and leapt into the pool to save her child.

The child’s father, Jonathan Perumal, began CPR and it was reported that the child was coughing at this point. Ashton was then rushed to Westville Hospital where doctors tried for two hours to save the boy, but to no avail.