More water tragedy - Fort Worth child drowns, Cleburne teen hurt in separate swimming pool incidents

In what is becoming a summer of drownings and near-drownings in North Texas, one child died and another was injured Friday in separate swimming pool-related incidents.

A 6-year-old girl, Wavery Williams, was pronounced dead at 7:20 a.m. Friday at Cook Children’s Medical Center, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s office. Williams was pulled from a pool Wednesday night at Cobb Park Apartments, 2450 E. Berry St. in east Fort Worth.

Also Friday, a 15-year-old Cleburne teenager was hospitalized after being pulled from a pool following a seizure suffered while swimming Thursday night. An update on the teen’s condition wasn’t immediately available Friday afternoon.

“It is becoming a community crisis,” said Fort Worth fire spokesman Gregg Russell, who is among the many public safety officials raising concerns about water safety after a wave of drownings has gripped the region. “Even if children are good swimmers, anything can happen in the water.”

The 6-year-old girl and her family actually lived at a different Fort Worth apartment complex, but she was visiting the Cobb Park Apartments with an 11-year-old aunt and other young relatives, officials said. The group apparently was swimming during the evening, and others didn’t notice the girl had gone missing until dark.

The first 911 call was at 9:13 p.m., Russell said. The girl was pulled from the water by others at the pool who then started CPR, and a fire truck arrived on the scene within a minute. But she remained unresponsive, and had apparently been submerged for some time, he said.

“A rescue has to be extra quick,” Russell said. “(Witnesses) were unsure last time they saw her but they said it was daylight. It was dark when she was pulled from the water.”

In Cleburne, a teenager remained hospitalized Friday after being pulled from a swimming pool following a seizure.

The Cleburne Fire Department was called to the 600 block of East Willingham Street about 7:45 p.m. Thursday.

The victim, 15, was flown by CareFlite to a Fort Worth hospital, Cleburne police spokeswoman Kelly Summey said.

An update on the teen’s condition wasn’t immediately available.

WFAA.com reported the victim was a boy who had a seizure while in the pool and inhaled water.

Those incidents are the latest in a string of drownings and near-drownings in the Metroplex. Authorities say they’re alarmed by the increased number of water-related tragedies, and are urging adults to be especially vigilant this holiday weekend.

Statewide, at least 39 children have drowned this year, according to area fire officials and the Department of Family and Protective Services. At least 15 of them were in North Texas, more than any other region.

On Wednesday — the same day as the incident involving the 6-year-old girl at Cobb Park Apartments — another 6-year-old drowned on the other side of town. Micah Wheeler, 6, drowned in a neighborhood pool at 6083 Grand Champion Boulevard in far north Fort Worth.

Sgt. Steve Enright, a Fort Worth police spokesman, said officers are investigating both cases.

Other recent drownings include 1-year-old Rayan Alluhaybi who was pulled from a residential swimming pool in Arlington in April. In May, John Cookson, 17, drowned while kayaking in Village Creek in Arlington, and Aaryn Jay Thacker, 3, drowned in Lake Granbury.

Last week, three siblings, ages 9, 10 and 11, died after being pulled from an apartment swimming pool in Irving.

“Drowning is not what you think. It’s quick and silent and happens before you know it,” said Judge John Specia, commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. “I urge all Texans to keep a very close watch on children as they head outdoors for this holiday weekend.”

Since June 1, Cook Children’s in Fort Worth treated 26 children in near-drowning cases, more than double the number at this time last year, an official at the hospital said.

Most occurred in backyard or community swimming pools, but authorities say lakes and rivers, now full from recent rains, are also dangerous.

Drownings have also been reported this year in ponds, bathtubs, a hot tub, a marina on Galveston Bay and even a septic tank, the Department of Family and Protective Services said.

“I feel like a broken recording at this point,” said Sharon Evans, a trauma outreach coordinator at Cook Children’s. “But I don’t know what else to do. We have to keep telling people. We have to keep getting the word out. Tell your friends. Tell your neighbors. Tell your other family members. Kids are dying.”

Evans said all adults should closely watch children on the Fourth of July weekend and beyond.

“I don’t think people know how quickly it happens,” Evans said. “It’s just seconds and it’s a silent killer. Kids died silently.

“Water is dangerous. It scares me because now we are headed toward the July Fourth weekend.”

This report includes information from the Star-Telegram archives.

This story was originally published July 3, 2015 at 1:53 PM with the headline "More water tragedy - Fort Worth child drowns, Cleburne teen hurt in separate swimming pool incidents."