Child Drowns After Mother Suffers Seizure

Orange County’s close-knit classical-music world was in mourning Tuesday over news that the toddler son of Pacific Symphony conductor Carl St.Clair drowned in a swimming pool after his mother was incapacitated by a seizure.

Cole St.Clair, 18 months, apparently slipped into a neighbor’s pool late Monday afternoon after Susan St.Clair fell unconscious after suffering a diabetic seizure in an adjacent hot tub, authorities said.

The two were found by Susan’s father, who was staying with the family and became worried by their absence. Both were taken to the hospital, where the boy was declared dead. His mother was later released.

Susan St.Clair, 33, has suffered from diabetes since she was 16 and has had seizures in the past, said Laguna Beach Police Lt. Danell Adams. Emergency crews were called twice in 1998 because of her seizures, Adams said.

The owners of the home with the pool, family friends of the St.Clairs, were not home at the time of the accident. Carl St.Clair, 47, was in Colorado rehearsing for a summer music festival; he flew home Tuesday morning.

Friends described the boy’s death as devastating to his parents. “He was the pride of their lives. It’s a horrible loss for them,” said John Forsyte, executive director of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra.

Carl St.Clair recently marked his 10th anniversary as conductor with Orange County’s largest symphony orchestra. Orchestra officials said the Texas native had cut back on guest-conducting stints after the birth of his son.

“Cole was their whole life. Carl changed his whole lifestyle and life plan to be able to be with his son more often,” said Barbara Johnson, vice president of development for the orchestra.

Louis Spisto, a former Pacific Symphony executive director who was best man at the St.Clairs’ wedding and godfather to Cole, flew in from Detroit late Tuesday to lend his support. He said Susan has struggled with her diabetes.

“Over the years, I have seen Susan not well. She becomes very weak, sometimes passes out. They have to get insulin . . . or go to the emergency room,” he said.

Managing diabetes is a lifelong task, said Jane Hannah, who sits on the board of the American Diabetes Assn.’s Orange County chapter.

“We tell people you need to learn to live with your diabetes. They just have to pay attention to their meals, exercise and medication.”