We are very sorry to report that a West Philly boy died on Saturday, two days after he was pulled from a swimming pool at Cobbs Creek Recreation Center (210 S. 63rd St.).
A lifeguard found 7-year-old Jabriel O’Connor underwater and unresponsive at about 1 p.m. Thursday. The lifeguard administered CPR and the boy was rushed to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where he was placed on life support. Four lifeguards were watching the pool.
Jabriel was at the public pool with a camp group of about 25 children and four counselors. Jabriel lived near the corner of Walnut and Melville Streets in the Spruce Hill section in an emergency shelter for homeless families, according to neighbors.
Mayor Michael Nutter issued a statement yesterday concerning the boy’s death:
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jabriel’s parents, family, friends, and all of the young people present at the Cobb’s Creek Recreation Center on Thursday as they grieve. The City will continue to provide support services to Jabriel’s family, the camp staff, City employees and community members affected by this tragedy. It is my hope that they can find strength and comfort from the support of their loved ones and the entire Philadelphia community at this difficult time.”
A neighbor wrote in an e-mail that Jabriel lived nearby.
“This child is our neighbor at Melville and Walnut. So, so sad. Other kids from his house witnessed his drowning, just awful. Don’t know if anything can be done on a community level to help his mom/family, but thought I would e-mail you just in case.”
We have contacted the agency that sponsored the camp for information about how community members could help Jabriel’s family. We’ll post any information we receive back.
July 22nd, 2013 at 4:10 pm
So sad. Thoughts are with the family.
July 22nd, 2013 at 5:07 pm
Horrible that this can happen to a child with 4 lifeguards on duty. How crowded do these public pools get where a kid isn’t noticed until he is “underwater and unresponsive”? Are the lifeguards at the pools 16 year old kids themselves?
July 22nd, 2013 at 6:26 pm
“We have contacted the agency that sponsored the camp for information about how community members could help Jabriel’s family. We’ll post any information we receive back.”
Please do, this really tears me up.
July 23rd, 2013 at 11:54 am
I’m a little confused if this was a camp or just a public pool ( or both). Public pools can get very crowded and children under a certain age must be accompanied by and looked after by an adult as stated upon entry.
Depending on age, there are legal ratios of adult to child in childcare settings.
For example,
5 year old children = 1:9
ages 6-9 = 1:10
ages 10-12 = 1:15
Either way, it’s very sad that this happened 🙁
July 23rd, 2013 at 11:49 pm
My heart just aches for this little boy’s family, for his mother, and for the kids who had to witness their playmate getting pulled from the pool.
I hope the city has provided significant support to the grieving mother.
@Stephanie: Many of the city pools have camp kids from 11a-1p, and then open swim starting at 1pm. The American Red Cross doesn’t have a strict ratio of lifeguards:swimmers. They generally recommend a minimum of 2 lifeguards for the first 50 swimmers, but this isn’t a hard-and-fast rule: the type of pool (or lake or ocean), the ability of the swimmers, the depth, visibility, etc. all play a role.
http://americanlifeguard.qhub.com/113431/
July 24th, 2013 at 12:36 pm
Thanks for the clarification. I was unaware that camps were there in the morning! Also, I figured lifeguard ratios were different than childcare/camps and it’s unfortunate !