2 children dead after separate pool incidents in Beaufort County, officials say
Two children died this past weekend after separate pool incidents in Beaufort County. One drowned; the other died of injuries after being found unconscious in a swimming pool, according to authorities.
Drew Anderson, 2, from Raleigh died from his injuries on Friday resulting from a near drowning July 4 at a pool in Palmetto Hall on Hilton Head Island, according to the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office and a police report.
On Saturday, Elias Maldonado, 9, from Beaufort died from drowning at a birthday party in Shell Point near Beaufort, according to the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office and a separate police report.
Maldonado was playing at an inflatable bounce house at the party that had a slide into an attached pool, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report.
He “did not stand back up after sliding into the pool,” it said.
Beaufort County EMS performed CPR on Maldonado.
They transported him to Beaufort Memorial Hospital in the afternoon, where he succumbed to his injuries, the report said.
A week earlier, Drew Anderson was hospitalized at the Pediatric ER at Memorial Health Medical Center in Savannah, according to a separate report from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
The child was playing at a home in Palmetto Hall. His parents briefly left him unattended, and he fell in the backyard pool, the report said.
“Suspicions were raised” when he had gone silent for a while, and nearby adults pulled him out of the pool, the report said.
The boy was resuscitated, according to the report, and regained a heartbeat when EMS brought him to Hilton Head Hospital ER.
He was flown to Savannah Memorial’s Pediatric ER, where doctors told a sheriff’s deputy that Anderson was still alive, though his condition could worsen, according to the report.
He died less than a week later.
Data from S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control show that more than 85 percent of drownings among children ages 1-6 are pool related.
DHEC said there have been 16 drowning deaths in South Carolina in 2020, two of which were in Beaufort County.
Here are tips DHEC provides to prevent children from drowning:
Never leave a child unsupervised in or around water inside or outside the home.
Install four-sided isolation fencing at least 5 feet high, equipped with self-closing and self-latching gates around pool areas.
Have children wear personal flotation devices.
This story was originally published July 13, 2020 at 3:48 PM.
