Children's Safety Zone

A Valley family is in mourning after a teenager drowned saving her siblings.

“She got them out but couldn’t make it back,” said the victim’s older sister Valerie Leethip.

The tragic incident happened Friday, as Vaverlyn Dachbar was with her family for what was supposed to be a quick, fun trip to Lake Pleasant.

While out for a swim, Vaverlyn’s twin brother and sister waded in too deep and went under.

Vaverlyn, only an average swimmer, jumped in after them. She managed to save the twins, but couldn’t save herself.

Another man who was in the area tried to rescue Vaverlyn but couldn’t find her. A Maricopa County Sheriff’s dive team found her body later in the day.

Vaverlyn was a sophomore at Thunderbird High School. Her family says she was an avid reader who was already taking extra classes to graduate early.

She wanted to be a pediatrician one day to help children.

She was also very protective of her little brother and sister.

“Instead of rushing to find the adults, she went in after them because that’s what she does,” said sister Valerie.

A baby boy drowned in a bathtub at a home on the northwest side Saturday evening.

Oro Valley police officers the first to arrive, just after 5 p.m., at a home in the 9000 block of North Oracle Road between West Hardy Road and West Calle Concordia, and began performing CPR after the 12-month-old was found unresponsive in a bathtub, said Capt. Josh Hurguy, spokesman for the Golder Ranch Fire Department.

via Infant left in bathtub drowns in Oro Valley.

A 4-year-old girl nearly drowned in Oro Valley Saturday.

Battalion Chief Josh Hurguy with Golder Ranch Fire District says it happened at a home in the 11000 block of Gray Eagle, near Tangerine and La Canada.

Hurguy says a 4-year-old was in the care of her mother.

She was in the pool with a floatation device when she tipped over underwater and was unable to right herself.

A 12-year-old relative, who just completed CPR training, saw what happened and quickly turned the girl right side up and got her out of the water.

The little girl never lost consciousness or stopped breathing.

Golder Ranch Fire Paramedics transported her to UAMC for further evaluation.

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, AZ – An autopsy says a Colorado woman whose body was recovered from a river at the Grand Canyon in March accidentally drowned.

Kaitlin Anne Kenney, of Englewood, was reported missing Jan. 12 from a private rafting trip. She last was seen at a camp near Tapeats Creek on the north side of the Colorado River and an extensive search turned up no sign of her.

Kenney’s body was found March 22 about 30 river miles from where she was reporting missing.

Coconino County officials said Friday that the medical examiner’s autopsy report lists the cause of death as drowning and the manner as accidental.

The river trip was Kenney’s first at the Grand Canyon.  Kenney’s mother believes her daughter fell into the river at nighttime, possibly trying to use the restroom.