10-Year-Old Boy Drowns Near Midland

The child died in the waters off Balm Beach near Midland Sunday and the sandy strip was packed with people when it happened.

“I was laying on the beach here and I decided to go out for a swim, I had my little floatation device … I noticed a little boy swimming and some other gentleman, he says ‘Help, help, help’ … we put (the boy) on the little device and brought him into shore,” Larry Russell said.

Other witnesses were also shocked and saddened by the tragic turn of events.

“It was awful to know that a boy had drowned and they had tried to revive him and they couldn’t do it … it was just sad,” witness Melissa Campbell said.

Tragedy struck near Huntsville when 22-year-old Andrew Taylor drowned at the bottom of a waterfall at Mary Lake and the Muskoka River.

He was reportedly body surfing at the base of the Port Sydney Scenic Dam with friends when it happened Sunday afternoon.

And on Saturday, a man died while trying to swim across the Welland Canal near Niagara Falls.

The victim was with a friend when he disappeared under the water and a pair accompanying the two men in a canoe pulled the man to shore, but he was later pronounced dead.

And a boating accident near Wasaga Beach sent one man to hospital with serious head injuries this long weekend.

Witnesses say it happened when a boat was turning around in a channel of the Notawasaga River and was hit by another craft.

The Canada Day long weekend is the worst for drownings, according to the Lifesaving Society.

Sixteen people drowned on the holiday stretch last year. The organization says children were involved in many more fatalities in 2005 than in previous years and warns the tragic incidents usually happen when parents or guardians turn their backs for just a moment.

“In regards to young children around the water, make sure they’re wearing their life jacket or their PFD,” Sgt. Kathy Doughty of the Toronto Police Marine Unit said. “If they’re on a boat, at the beach, in a pool, doesn’t matter, make sure they have it on near water.”

The Lifesaving Society also says many drownings involve men who are boating and that most of the incidents occur with males who can’t swim, don’t wear life jackets, who have been drinking out on the water, or who are dumped unexpectedly when the boat speeds off.

Here are some facts about children and drowning, courtesy of the Canadian Red Cross:

• Drowning is one of the leading causes of death for Canadian children aged one to four. 
• For every toddler who dies from drowning, it is estimated there are three to five additional near drownings, which require hospitalization. 
• In nearly half of the infant and toddler drownings, the victims were alone. 
• A small child can drown in only a few inches of water – enough to cover the mouth and nose. 
• Drowning can occur in less time than it takes to read this safety message. 
• The most common location for infant drownings is the bathtub. 
• Home swimming pools account for 38% of toddler drownings. 
• Since 1991, only 4% of reported toddler drownings were in pools with self-closing and self-latching gates. 
• If all home pools were equipped with self-closing and self-latching gates, nearly all toddler pool drownings and about one-third of all toddler drownings could be eliminated.

Here are some water safety tips, courtesy of the Lifesaving Society:

• Keep children within arms’ reach. If you’re not within arms’ reach, you’ve
  gone too far.
• Choose it and use it! Always wear a lifejacket or personal flotation device.
• Think about it! Don’t drink and drive your boat.
• Learn to swim. Enroll your children in swimming lessons. At a minimum make sure everyone in your family can achieve the Canadian Swim to Survive Standard – the essential skills to survive an unexpected fall into deep water.