Boy, 2, Nearly Drowns in Canal
A 2 1/2-year-old boy was in critical condition and on life support Thursday at Children’s Hospital after he was pulled from an irrigation canal in Valley Center. Hospital spokeswoman Jeannie Berghorn identified the child as Bani Reyes. Berghorn said the boy was underwater for about 10 minutes before he was rescued.
The child was taken to Children’s by helicopter.
Details of the accident were sketchy, but Capt. Howard Maxey of the California Department of Forestry station in Valley Center said state firefighters arrived at the scene at 1:40 p.m., after being called by sheriff’s deputies.
Maxey said a deputy and bystander were administering CPR to the child when firefighters arrived. Firefighters continued with the emergency care until paramedics arrived. It was the helicopter’s medical crew that finally got a pulse from the child, Maxey said.
Hospital officials said Thursday night that Miguel Reyes was keeping a vigil by his son’s bedside.
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