Reunion Turns Tragic as Girl Falls Into Pool : Safety: As adults talked, the toddler slipped through an open door and climbed into an above-ground pool. She is in critical condition.

It started out as a typical family get-together. Relatives and friends flew in Tuesday from Colorado for a reunion at Molly and Brad Greenwood’s home.

But on Wednesday tragedy struck. As the five adults talked and the nine children played in the living room of the house on Ethel Street, the Greenwood’s 14-month-old granddaughter, Justine Pesicka of Anaheim, slipped through an open sliding glass door, climbed a 4-foot ladder to an above-ground swimming pool and fell in and nearly drowned.

Molly Greenwood was cooking macaroni and cheese when she looked up suddenly and noticed Justine was gone.

“My heart sank. I thought about the pool, but I knew I had lifted up the ladder,” she said. “But when I got out there, she was floating in the middle of (of the pool).”

Brad Greenwood said the other children, ages 5 to 12, had been swimming on and off all day.

“Justine had just woken up from a nap and must have snuck out,” he said. “She’s a good climber.”

Relatives said they believe the toddler had been lying in the pool for five to 10 minutes before she was discovered. Brad Greenwood administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation while frantic relatives called 911.

“It was the worst thing in the world,” said Molly Greenwood in the waiting room at Long Beach Memorial Hospital, where Justine has remained in critical condition.

“All we can do is hope,” she said, wiping away tears.

Relatives held a vigil at the hospital until 4 a.m. Thursday, went home to sleep, then returned later in the day.

Doctors told them that Justine had suffered liver and kidney damage. The child was placed under restraints, relatives said, because she kept yanking out her intravenous tube.

“She’s a fighter, and we just hope that she will make it,” Molly Greenwood said.

She said she had raised the ladder to the pool because Justine was a climber. However, during the course of the family reunion, someone apparently had lowered the ladder.

“We’re still not sure what happened,” she said. “Maybe one of the kids pulled it down.”

In Orange County, 11 children under age 5 typically drown each year and another 90 are hospitalized in near-drownings, according to county epidemiologist Hildy Meyers.

Drowning is the leading cause of death nationwide for children under the age of 5, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Each year about 350 children under age 5 drown in back-yard pools and another 4,200 receive emergency room treatment for “submersion,” commission officials said.

In light of these statistics, pool safety advocates have pushed for ordinances requiring barriers or safety covers around every pool to protect small children.

Brad Greenwood said there is a fence around his yard, but there is not enough room to erect a fence around the pool as well.