A tragic accident in Collier County left a family grieving after their 11-month-old baby was found underwater in their pool Sunday.
It happened around 7 p.m. at a home in the 400 block of Southwest 25th Street.
According to an incident report from the Collier County Sheriff's Office, the boy's mother told deputies that the child's older brothers had left the sliding glass door to the pool open, and that 11-month-old Courage Woodall had fallen in. He was only 17 days away from his first birthday.
EMS tried CPR on Courage before taking him to North Collier Hospital, where further efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.
Sally Kreuscher, Child Advocacy Coordinator for Golisano Children's Hospital in Lee and Collier County, said that anyone with small children should have several layers of protection to prevent accidental drowning.
"Kids are active," Kreuscher said. "There's always going to be a time when children get out of our sight."
"Even if they know how to swim well, there can always be an accident," she added.
Kreuscher advises that parents should have a pool fence five feet high, with a self-closing, self-latching gate. She said that childproof locks and alarms should be installed on any windows or doors that lead to the pool, and that parents should get certified in CPR.
"It's having those extra layers of protection that will slow them down," Kreuscher said. "So in case they do get away for a second, there's an extra period of time that you can keep them safe."
The Florida Department of Children and Families has opened a child death investigation into Courage Woodall's death, which is standard procedure in any child's drowning.
