Grandfather And Granddaughter, 4, Drown After Rescue Turns Tragedy In Maryland Pool

In a matter of minutes, a fun day of kids swimming in a Baltimore backyard pool turned into a horrific tragedy with a grandfather and his 4-year-old granddaughter floating lifeless at the bottom of a pool. A 51-year-old grandfather was watching his granddaughter and some neighborhood kids swimming in a backyard pool when his 4-year-old granddaughter jumped into the deep end.

According to Fox News, the little girl did not know how to swim and she was in the water for “minutes” before she was noticed. When the grandfather was alerted, he jumped into the pool to rescue this young girl, but the crisis got even worse. Immediately the grandfather began struggling in the water and the other kids ran to the house across the street to get the little girl’s great-grandmother for help.

When she got to the pool all she could see was the grandfather and the 4-year-old girl at the bottom of the pool and she called 911. The first responders arrived and pulled the man and his granddaughter from the pool. The paramedics “aggressively tried to resuscitate both of them,” said Lt. Jen McKee of the Ann Arundel County Fire Department. The unnamed grandfather and granddaughter were rushed to the hospital, where both were pronounced dead.

Neither of the of the two drowning victims has been identified, as police were waiting until all family members were notified. This double drowning occurred in Severna Park in Anne Arundel County on Thursday afternoon, according to CBS News. The pool belonged to a neighbor of the little girl and her grandfather and the two had asked permission to use it before going swimming.

According to CBS News, recent statistics indicate that 245 people have drowned in Maryland during a five-year period. Law enforcement officials said that homicide detectives were originally on the scene, but the investigation into the duo drownings is now closed. It was clearly an accident that took the life of the man and his granddaughter police ruled.

A backyard pool full of kids and an adult watching over the summertime fun is pool safety at its best, or at least one may think so. This isn’t a safe environment if the adult acting as the pool lifeguard can’t swim, as a tragic story coming out of Maryland indicates today.

[Featured Image by StacieStauffSmith Photos’s/Shutterstock]