TEMPE, AZ – Police have identified a man found dead in Tempe Town Lake early Monday morning.
Authorities say passersby heard a splash and saw the victim, 34-year-old Christopher Robin Gonzales, flailing his arms around 3 a.m.
One of the witnesses tried to save Gonzales but was not successful. Another witness called 911.
A fire rescue worker pulled the 34-year-old’s body from the water and divers then went looking for any possessions in the water belonging to the victim that would help identify him.
There was no immediate word on how or why he ended up in the water.
GLENDALE, AZ – Authorities say a 2-year-old girl is in critical condition Wednesday after she was found in a swimming pool in Glendale.
The incident happened around 12:30 p.m. near Northern and 109th avenues.
The girl’s mother noticed she was missing and searched their house, before finding the girl floating in the backyard pool face down, said Sgt. Brandon Jones with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
After calling 911, the girl’s mother and grandmother started performing CPR as directed by the fire department, Jones said.
The girl was awake and crying before being airlifted to Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Jones said.
She has since been listed in critical condition.
Deputies said they believe the girl crawled out of the house through the doggie door. The swimming pool does not have a fence around it.
PHOENIX – A Valley family was very thankful to have their little girl safe in their arms on Christmas.
She slipped into a canal on Monday and one man’s quick thinking helped save her life.
An ABC15 crew got an exclusive interview with that good Samaritan.
“Just seeing how close she was to the edge, it just caught my eye and literally as I was thinking ‘wow she’s close,’ I saw her slip in,” Patrick Harkness said.
The canal walls are really steep and Harkness couldn’t reach the 8-year old, but he found the nearest thing that would work.
He grabbed a ladder from someone’s backyard.
It was just enough for the little girl to hold onto until rescuers arrived.
Together they formed a human chain and lifted her to safety.
Thinking back to the moment Harkness said, “He was able to grab her and bring her up and then I grabbed her from him and just kind of passed her up a little bit, then somebody behind me grabbed her and we got her out.”
Harkness says he was just in the right place at the right time, but for the family of the little girl it was a Christmas gift they’ll cherish for a lifetime.
PHOENIX – A 4-year-old boy died after being found in a motel pool Saturday afternoon.
Phoenix Fire Department spokesman Larry Nunez said there were two families at the motel pool, located near 7th Street and the I-17.
There was a miscommunication about who was watching the kids and there were five total in the pool, according to Nunez.
A 13-year-old jumped in after 4-year-old boy, who was in the 8-foot deep end of the pool. He told ABC15 off-camera they were at the pool celebrating his birthday when they noticed the child was missing.
The child was transported to the hospital in critical condition, but later died.
MARICOPA, AZ – A 6-year-old boy has died after he was found submerged in the bathtub Christmas night.
Maricopa fire officials told ABC15 when the boy arrived at Cardon Children’s Medical Hospital in Mesa he was alive, but not responsive and not breathing on his own.
This happened just before 6:30 p.m. at a two-story home in Maricopa. Officials said Wednesday the boy died shortly after 7 p.m.
We’re told family members were home and the 6-year-old was found in the tub. He had reportedly been feeling ill beforehand.
He wasn’t breathing and he didn’t have a pulse when paramedics arrived at the home.
The drowning is under investigation, however officials say there are no suspicious circumstances.
TUCSON – We have a few weeks left in our Kristi’s Kids, News4 Tucson Lifesaver season. Since January 1, 2012, Pima County has seen one child drown in a bathtub. Another nine kids have nearly drowned.
One is too many so local experts are bringing the Water S.M.A.R.T. Babies program to town.
Created in Broward County, Florida where they’ve recorded up to 12 fatalities in recent years, pediatricians play a key role in saving swimmers’ lives. Along with other educational efforts, Broward County saw a 50% reduction in drownings of 5-year-olds and younger in one year after implementing S.M.A.R.T. Babies.
Dr. Julie Klein is a physician in the Pediatric Emergency Department at Tucson Medical Center. She’s treated many children who’ve nearly drowned.
“Part of what’s heartbreaking is that it is preventable.”
Dr. Klein is excited for Water S.M.A.R.T. Babies which stands for Safety Materials and Rescue Techniques.
Basically, pediatricians write a prescription for swim lessons before a child turns one. While in the past, doctors feared exposing babies to water would eliminate a natural fear of water, new research shows many children have a natural curiosity of water.
In drownings of 1 to 2-year-olds, most of them gained access to a back yard swimming pool without the adult being aware.
“I interpret that as showing that many young toddlers are curious about water,” says Dr. Klein.
The Drowning Prevention Coalition of Arizona (DPCA) is launching the program here.
“So basically what we want them to do at the 9 or 12 month well check is truly get in and go over this with the parent,” says Tracey Fejt, DPCA Secretary. “And the prescription is for water safety lessons.”
The parents also will receive information about all the layers of drowning prevention from the pediatrician at well baby checks.
Some think that’s what made the Florida program so successful.
“We can talk to people all day about what you need to do. But when it’s coming from a physician, it really makes a difference,” says Fejt.
Dr. Klein agrees. “Seeing something in writing on a prescription pad by the pediatrician that just really makes an impact.”
The idea is to teach a basic survival skill. If babies can learn to flip onto their backs and cry or yell for yelp, that could provide precious seconds for a rescue. Without being taught these skills, they typically sink to the bottom and wait for help.
EL MIRAGE, AZ – Police say a 1-year-old boy is in critical condition after a near-drowning Thursday afternoon in El Mirage.
Kim Walden with El Mirage police said the boy was home with his grandmother in the backyard near Cactus and El Mirage roads.
The grandmother went into the house to check on something on the stove and came back outside to find the boy face down in the swimming pool, Walden said.
He had a pulse and was spitting up water, Walden said.
Air15 video showed crews airlifting the boy to a nearby hospital.
There was a stroller in the pool, but there’s no word on why that was there.
Walden said the circumstances surrounding this incident are under investigation.
PHOENIX — Phoenix police sent the dive team out to a canal near 36th Street and Camelback Sunday morning after a dead body was found in the water.
Authorities said the body was discovered just before 10 a.m. by someone who was near the canal.
The body was fully clothed, but police don’t know how long it was in the water.
“There was no indications from our earlier shifts that there was an issue or problem,” said Lt. Stan Hoover. “It does look like this body has been in the water for quite some time and speaking with some SRP representatives it may have moved this far down as far away as 56th street.”
Police have not said if the body is that of a man or a woman, or how old the person may have been.
The body has been taken to the medical examiner’s office for further investigation.
