La Lucia toddler critical after near drowning

A LA Lucia grandmother has told of her family’s anguish after two of her grandchildren were found floating in their family pool on Sunday in a near drowning. The toddlers, both little girls, are aged one and two. One of the toddlers, is recovering in an uMhlanga hospital, while the other is in a critical condition.

The grandmother, who did not want to be named, said the family were traumatised by the incident and were praying for the recovery of the children.

“We were all at home on Sunday. The children followed one of the family members down to the pool but he didn’t notice they were behind me. When one of the mother’s noticed her child was missing she began looking for them and walked down to the pool. She found both toddlers floating in the pool. She screamed for help, dived in and pulled both of them out,” she said.

“One of our family members who knew first aid performed CPR on the one-year-old. He gave instructions to another family member to perform CPR on the two-year-old but she was unresponsive. One of the neighbours who heard the screams rushed to our aid and took the children to hospital.”

The one-year-old is currently recovering with a lung infection while the other remains at Albert Luthuli Hospital and is in a critical condition.

“The doctors have told us she is very critical. She was moved to Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital and is on a life support machine. We are all shell-shocked and traumatised. We are praying that she recovers,” the emotional grandmother said.

The Durban North/Umhlanga Crisis Team are assisting the family with trauma counselling.