Baby Drowns While Mother Has Seizure

An 18-month-old boy apparently drowned Monday evening when he slipped into an in-ground pool after his mother went into a diabetic seizure while relaxing in an adjacent hot tub, Laguna Beach police said.

The incident occurred between 4 and 5 p.m. Monday in the 700 block of Kendall Street, Sgt. Ray Lardie said. He declined to identify the victim because officials had not reached the boy’s father, who was out of town on business.

Lardie said the mother and son had gone to a neighbor’s pool about 4 p.m. When they didn’t return home after an hour, the 33-year-old woman’s father grew concerned and went looking for them.

“He found the mother unconscious in the [spa] with her head above water and found the baby in the shallow end of the swimming pool face down and not breathing,” Lardie said, adding that the mother had a history of such seizures.

He said the woman’s father yelled for help and, while neighbors called rescue crews, pulled his daughter and grandson from the pools.

The mother and son were taken to South Coast Medical Center in Laguna Beach, where the boy was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. The mother was being treated for the diabetic seizure, Lardie said.