Boy drowns in his bed

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Reba

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Very sad and very strange.

Child's death mystifies mother

'It's really bizarre,' mom says of son's drowning
By Noah Haglund , Nadine Parks
The Post and Courier
Wednesday, June 4, 2008

GOOSE CREEK — Cassandra Jackson is still trying to understand how her 10-year-old son could have died more than an hour after swimming in the pool at his apartment complex Sunday afternoon.

But if one child can be saved because people learn from Johnny "Jon Jon" Jackson's death, her loss is more tolerable, she said.

Jon Jon, a fourth-grader at Westview Elementary School, inhaled a lot of water while swimming in the Branchwood apartments pool about noon Sunday, his mother said. He seemed fine afterward, but said he was sleepy, so he lay down in his bed about an hour later, she said.

A few minutes later, another adult checked on him and found white foam coming from his mouth.

"His lips were blue and his tongue was sticking out," his mother said. "We called 911."

He later died of asphyxiation by drowning at Trident Medical Center, Berkeley County Coroner Glenn Rhoad said. He said there was water in the boy's lungs.

Jon Jon was autistic and suffered from attention deficit and a social phobia, his mother said. But doctors told her that had nothing to do with his death.

Not all drowning deaths happen immediately. Other phenomena, such as secondary drowning, can occur as much as 72 hours later and without any warning signs, medical experts say.

"I'm still trying to wrap my mind around this," Jackson said. "It's really bizarre."

Tuesday night, she flipped through photos of her son, whom she described as a good boy and a huge wrestling fan. If he wasn't watching wrestling, he was playing a wrestling video game, she said.

His daily schedule is taped to his bedroom door. It helped the autistic boy to have a routine, she said.

"He was so loving," she said.

The family moved into the apartment about eight months ago, and Jon Jon had begged to go swimming for months, but it was too cold, Jackson said. On a sunny day over the weekend, they gathered up their swimming gear and headed for the pool. They couldn't have imagined a tragic end to their day, Jackson said.

Rhoad called the case unusual. He said adults in the group couldn't have known what was happening.

It isn't clear that any actions could have saved Jon Jon. But there are some preventive measures that parents should take for more common situations, experts say.

Never leave young children unsupervised around pools or swimming areas. All children should learn how to swim.

If a child starts acting strangely or has trouble breathing after leaving the water, early intervention by paramedics could be crucial to saving his or her life. Any adult trained in CPR can start potentially life-saving care before paramedics arrive.

Jackson, 40, said she hopes other parents will closely monitor their children after swimming, especially if a child has inhaled water.

"Please check them when they get out of the pool. Just watch them like a hawk," she said. "It tears me up inside. It's a heck of a sacrifice, but if this will help someone else, then it's all worth it."
Click to expand...
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Charleston, SC Latest Local News: Child's death mystifies mother
 
I remember when water (or when "it went down the wrong tube"), it was a very painful sensation.

It's amazing that an austistic kid, with so much water in his lungs, would seem "fine".

So sad.
 
A horrible and bizarre incident ... one of those freak accidents. I feel sorry for the mother.
 
So it may be safe to take your child to the ER if they inhale water - even if they seem fine? If it prevents secondary drowning, then insurance should pay for it.

I do know in pediatrics, a child can drown on only a teaspoon of water in their lungs. May not seem much, but those little things do add up, with a sad catastrophic result.
 
aww thats so sad.

i notice some people who have problems like autism or down sydrome should not be swimming alone in the first place. u never know what will happen.

last year on july 31 a 4 years old autism boy drowned at the trailer park in a town near here, even he was with his helper or i forget what they are called, but she (the worker) looked away just for a few sec, that was all it took and he went under. its sad.
 
Whoa, that's so sad. That's scary to have a dry drowning.
 
Update:

Man charged in boy's drowning

Police accuse family friend of homicide by child abuse
By Nadine Parks
The Post and Courier
Thursday, November 13, 2008

GOOSE CREEK — When 10-year-old Jon Jon Jackson died after swimming for the first time in his life this summer, officials believed he had simply inhaled too much water and drowned from the fluid in his lungs while sleeping more than an hour later.

It's a phenomenon known as secondary drowning, and his mother went on local and national television, warning other parents about the tragic condition that took her son's life.

But officials on Wednesday arrested a family friend who was trying to teach the autistic boy how to swim that day, accused him of causing the boy's death and implied that Jon Jon was dead before he came out of the pool, said Christine Meekins, the mother of the accused man.

Jon Jon's mother says she was at the pool, saw everything and that no one killed her child.

Saquan Celiak Meekins, 22, of Palm Coast, Fla., is charged with homicide by child abuse, said Casey Hoskins, Goose Creek public information officer.

Saquan Meekins was living with Jon Jon's family in the Branchwood Apartments off U.S. Highway 176 when the boy died. Jon Jon had been begging to go swimming, and the whole family trekked the short distance to the apartment complex pool June 1.

Jon Jon's mother, Cassandra Jackson, said that autistic children have difficulty with new experiences and sometimes overreact emotionally. Jon Jon was no exception that day, she said.

Jackson said Saquan Meekins was patient with Jon Jon, even though the boy swallowed a lot of water, stood up and screamed, said that he wanted to get out and yelled, "I don't want to die." Jackson said she fears that comment by the boy might have led to the arrest.

Jackson, Christine Meekins and others in the household said they gave statements to police that said Jon Jon walked home from the pool with them, said he was sleepy and laid down for a nap. When someone checked on him about an hour later, they found that his lips were blue and white foam was coming from his mouth. He was taken to Trident Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The official cause of death: asphyxiation by drowning, Berkeley County Coroner Glenn Rhoad said.

Christine Meekins said she went with her son, Saquan Meekins, to the police station on Wednesday. Investigators told her that they were basing their charges on witness accounts at the pool, and that a doctor told them Jon Jon died in the pool, she said.

Officials wouldn't discuss the details of the case, but 9th Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson said Saquan Meekins is accused of causing the boy's death.

She said the charge of homicide by child abuse requires "an extreme indifference to a child's life," and that the charges are a result, in part, of Saquan Meekin's actions at the pool.

Depending on the circumstances, he faces between 10 years to life in prison.

The coroner said police told him about two months ago that they wanted to talk to a pathologist about the autopsy. He wasn't aware that anyone had been arrested in the case.

He said the official cause of death has not changed.

Jackson said the accusations against Saquan Meekins are untrue.

"I've never blamed him. Even in my darkest hour, I've never even thought that he was responsible," she said. "It never crossed my mind."

Jackson appeared on local television news shows, the Oprah Winfrey show, Inside Edition and in "Jet" magazine, and she asked parents to watch their children after swimming, especially if they took in a lot of water. It gave her some comfort to know that Jon Jon's death might save someone else, she said.

"I was just getting to the point where it (the grief) was somewhat tolerable. Now, it's like somebody took a razor and just sliced it open again," she said. "We fear what we don't understand, and this is a prime example. Since we don't understand this (secondary drowning), we have to try to find someone to blame."

Saquan Meekins is a former Berkeley High School student. His bond hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. today at Goose Creek Municipal Court on U.S. Highway 52.
Click to expand...
Charleston, SC Latest Local News: Man charged in boy's drowning
 
:shock:
Are they just looking for someone to blame?

After reading this I'm not sure what to think.
 
Read that current link... Wow... I don't know what to think..

To me, that's kinda of wacko thing to do... =/
 
tragic.... but I find this very fascinating... medically. Secondary Drowning... good to know when you have little kids.
 
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