ST. GEORGE — A 7-year-old boy with autism is clinging to life Monday after he was discovered at the bottom of a motel swimming pool in St. George. The boy had been reported missing from his room at a different motel nearby.
At 7:31 a.m. Monday, officers were dispatched to a lost child call at the Coronada Inn and Suites located at 559 E. St. George Blvd., St. George Police Officer Lona Trombley said.
“The initial information was that a 7-year-old male who is nonverbal left the family’s hotel room,” Trombley said. “Officers were notified that he likes water, so they immediately began checking pools and splash pads near the area.”
At approximately 7:41 a.m., an officer found the boy at the bottom of the Sands Motel outdoor swimming pool, 581 E. St. George Blvd., less than 100 feet from his motel room. Trombley said it is unclear how the boy gained access to the pool, which is surrounded by a brick wall barrier with a chain link fence top.
“Officers on scene used the pool rescue rod to get him out of the pool and immediately began CPR,” Trombley said, adding that medical personnel arrived on scene at 7:43 a.m. and took over CPR.
The boy was transported to Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George.
“We have been notified that a pulse was established, and he‘s going to be transported for further treatment,” Trombley said. “Hopefully he wasn’t under for so long that the damage is irreversible – it’s hard to tell.”
As this report is published, Trombley said it was unknown how long the child had been missing from his motel room before he was reported missing to authorities.
While Trombley confirmed the boy and his family are residents of St. George, it was not immediately known if the family had been living at the motel or visiting the motel when the incident occurred.
This report is based on preliminary information provided by law enforcement or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.
Read more:
- Boy with autism dies after being found at bottom of pool – Aug. 11, 2016 update
- Finding the light in the spectrum; raising a child with autism – Oct. 15, 2016
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A 7-year-old boy with autism was discovered at the bottom of the Sands Motel swimming pool, 581 E. St. George Blvd., after he had been reported missing from a room at a nearby motel, St. George, Utah, Aug. 8, 2016 | Photo by Kimberly Scott, St. George News A 7-year-old boy with autism was discovered at the bottom of the Sands Motel swimming pool, 581 E. St. George Blvd., after he had been reported missing from a room at a nearby motel, St. George, Utah, Aug. 8, 2016 | Photo by Kimberly Scott, St. George News A 7-year-old boy with autism was discovered at the bottom of the Sands Motel swimming pool, 581 E. St. George Blvd., after he had been reported missing from a room at a nearby motel, St. George, Utah, Aug. 8, 2016 | Photo by Kimberly Scott, St. George News A 7-year-old boy with autism was discovered at the bottom of the Sands Motel swimming pool, 581 E. St. George Blvd., after he had been reported missing from a room at a nearby motel, St. George, Utah, Aug. 8, 2016 | Photo by Kimberly Scott, St. George News A 7-year-old boy with autism was discovered at the bottom of the Sands Motel swimming pool, 581 E. St. George Blvd., after he had been reported missing from a room at a nearby motel, St. George, Utah, Aug. 8, 2016 | Photo by Kimberly Scott, St. George News
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This is such a terrible tragedy. my prayers are with the child.
Amen
What a horrible situation. Thoughts are with the family.
Amen
Far too many sad articles this day. Makes one feel the need to be more pleasant with everyone, and more compassionate toward those who have reason to suffer today.
they say that autism might be caused by vaccines. with the levels of corruption and big pharma’s corrupting influence at CDC i wouldn’t be surprised. There was a huge spike in what we consider autism in the early 90’s and it’s become even more prevalent as they’ve added more and more vaccines to the schedule. It wouldn’t be even remotely the first time our gov’t has allowed us to be poisoned. A lot of you mormons with small babies should look into it–it’s lazy parenting to shrug it off as some “crazy conspiracy theory”. Your doctors only know what the gov’t tells them about vaccines, and do you really trust Obama’s CDC with your kid’s life?…
Very sad but may have been prevented.
Modern “Residential” standards for pools recommend fencing that is solid or not easy to see through. This helps to eliminate the curiosity that children may have, but should be visible from the home to monitor if someone enters the pool area. I’m guessing motels want the pool to be seen as a selling point and I doubt if there is any standard that the pool is visible from the front office. The other problem with the fence is that the type seen at this motel is that it is easily climbable looking at the open blocks and the open chain link (no slats). Let us hope for the best for this child and the family.