Boy drowns, girl in critical condition in separate pool incidents

A 6-year-old boy drowned in a neighborhood pool Wednesday and an 8-year-old girl was in critical condition after being pulled from an apartment pool, authorities reported.

Micah Wheeler, 6, was pronounced dead at Cook Children’s Medical Center at 2:27 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner.

Local TV stations reported the drowning took place at the Remington Point neighborhood, where no lifeguards were on duty.

MedStar arrived at 1:33 p.m., within three minutes of getting the call, to find a bystander and security guard performing CPR on the child, MedStar spokesman Matt Zavadsky said.

“He was critical the whole time,” Zavadsky said.

The pool is located at 6083 Grand Champion Boulevard in in far north Fort Worth.

At 9:13 p.m., first responders were called to a possible drowning at 2450 E. Berry St. at the Cobb Park Apartments in east Fort Worth.

An 8-year-old girl was transported to Cook Children’s in critical condition, Fort Worth fire Lt. Gregg Russell said.

The girl was swimming with two young cousins when she went under, he said. After an unknown period of time, she was pulled from the water by bystanders who started CPR, Russell said.

A fire truck returning from a fire was nearby and got to the scene within a minute, he said.

Fort Worth police are investigating both cases.

“We have had several drownings in the Metroplex,” Russell said. “This almost becomes a community crisis.

“The child slips under the water and you lose focus for a few minutes — that’s all it takes.”

This story was originally published July 1, 2015 at 7:43 PM with the headline "Boy drowns, girl in critical condition in separate pool incidents."