Boy Drowns, Girl Critically Hurt in 2 Pool Accidents

A 4-year-old boy drowned and a 2 1/2-year-old girl found floating in a pool remained on life support systems Friday in separate Orange County accidents less than 24 hours apart.

In the first accident, Daniel Lee slipped from a plastic flotation tube and drowned as his father was teaching another son to swim at the McComber Creek Apartments in Buena Park about 7:45 p.m. Thursday.

Lee was transported to St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton where he died a few minutes later, police said. His lungs were filled with water and he may have been unconscious for as long as 10 minutes before he was pulled from the water, police said.

Daniel walked with his father, Chae Young Lee, and brother, David, 6, from their apartment to the L-shaped pool to cool off from the afternoon’s heat, which reached into the high 80s, said the boys’ uncle, Sung Park.

Lee placed Daniel, who could not swim, in a flotation tube and then held David in the water nearby, police and the uncle said.

About 20 minutes passed before Lee suddenly heard someone yelling that Daniel was not moving and was floating face down in about four feet of water, relatives and police said.

A man in the pool area pulled Daniel from the water shortly before two police officers arrived and tried cardiopulmonary resuscitation, said Lorraine Smidt, who witnessed the incident from a lawn chair by the pool.

Police and family members said it was not clear how Daniel slipped out of the inner tube and drowned. Coroner’s officials said an autopsy concluded he drowned accidentally.

“I don’t understand how it could have happened because there were a lot of people around,” Park said. “He could not see (Daniel) because there were a lot of people in the pool,” Park said, referring to Lee, a salesman.

Lee told police and relatives that he thought some older children in the pool were watching Daniel.

Lee and the apartment complex manager declined to talk about the drowning Friday.

“I’m still flabbergasted,” Smidt said. “I can’t believe it that something like that can happen so fast.”

No lifeguard was present and a sign near the entrance of the pool states that all children should be accompanied by an adult.

Then at 2:45 p.m. Friday, a 2 1/2-year-old Anaheim girl was found floating in a pool at an apartment complex at 615 S. Ohio St., said Anaheim Sgt. Kirt Robertson.

Elizabeth Hernandez was in extremely critical condition at Children’s Hospital of Orange County in Orange on Friday night, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Relatives discovered the child floating in the pool, Robertson said. A dispatcher instructed the relatives on how to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation to the child, who was in full cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived and revived her.

Further details about the incident were not available.

Statewide and in Orange County, drowning is the leading cause of accidental death for children 4 years old and younger, according to a county study released in April.

Pool safety officials said Daniel’s drowning, the eighth drowning of a child so far this year in Orange County, underscores the importance of watching children closely when they are near water.

“It’s just a matter of looking the other way for a few minutes,” said Sgt. Mike Schwartz, one of the officers who tried to revive Daniel. “It can happen that quick.”

Officials also said that flotation devices should not be used as a substitute for close vigilance.

“They really are not meant to keep the child afloat and the child has to be watched every minute,” said Marcia Kerr of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and a member of the Orange County Pool Safety Network. “These little toys do have their place, but it goes hand in hand with supervision.”

Times staff writer Greg Hernandez contributed to this story.