12-year-old boy’s drowning after twin brother playfully punched him ruled an unfortunate misadventure
A 12-year-old boy drowned at the pool of Waterfront Gold condominium in Dec, 2018 after a playful tussle with his twin brother ended with a punch to his head. The state coroner ruled the incident an unfortunate misadventure.
SINGAPORE — A pair of 12-year-old twin brothers were tussling playfully with each other in December last year while swimming in their grandparents’ condominium swimming pool, as they frequently did.
But just a few minutes later, one of them found the other lying motionless at the bottom of the 1.2m-deep pool.
The boy was pronounced dead from drowning at Changi General Hospital (CGH) two hours later.
The two brothers were able to swim well, having taken lessons since they were three years old. They cannot be named due to a court gag order to protect their identities.
On Tuesday (June 11), State Coroner Kamala Ponnampalam ruled the boy’s death an unfortunate misadventure with no basis to suspect foul play.
In delivering her findings, she noted that children who are proficient swimmers may “paradoxically have a higher risk of drowning”, as the adults supervising them may become less vigilant.
“As previously noted by this court, constant, vigilant, adult supervision is absolutely essential. Parents and childminders must stay watchful as drowning occurs swiftly and often silently,” she said.
This is the third coroner’s report in recent months about a child’s drowning.
In April, the coroner released her findings on a six-year-old girl who drowned at a Sentosa hotel last year due to lack of adult supervision.
Earlier that same month, the coroner had issued her report on another six-year-old girl, who drowned at Kallang Basin Swimming Complex during a swimming lesson last year, when her coach had his back turned to her.
WHAT HAPPENED
This latest incident occurred on Dec 10, 2018 at the Waterfront Gold condominium, located at Bedok Reservoir Road.
The twins had just completed sitting for their Primary School Leaving Examinations, and were spending their end-of-year school holidays at their grandparents’ place. They usually went there twice a week.
They were adopted from the Philippines when they were about one year old.
Their adoptive father testified that they were “very close and did almost everything together”. They were also able to swim without supervision, and usually swam about once or twice a week.
On the day of the incident, the boys and their grandfather went to the pool at about 2.30pm. They entered the adult pool, where the water came up to their chest levels, and remained at the side, closest to where their grandfather was in the hot tub.
The boys were play-wrestling in the pool when one of them swung his arm, striking the other on his forehead and causing him to cry.
When the older man glared at the first boy, he swam away.
The grandfather testified that it was normal for them to wrestle and hit each other while swimming, so he did not think much of it when one of them complained about being hit.
Within a few minutes, the boy swam back and discovered his brother at the bottom of the pool. He called out to his grandfather, who pulled the unconscious boy out and began giving him cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
Paramedics continued performing CPR when they arrived, and took him to CGH in an ambulance. He was treated for cardiac arrest and drowning, but was pronounced dead at around 4.30pm.
A forensic pathologist certified his cause of death as drowning, and found no evidence of a forceful punch to the head or brain injury. He said that a playful punch would not have knocked the deceased boy unconscious either.
However, he noted that family members can overestimate children’s swimming proficiency.
Following the incident, the twins’ father said that the deceased boy’s brother “has been distraught” and often asked about his brother, and is currently receiving bereavement support from counsellors and therapists.
CONDO MANAGEMENT TO IMPROVE SITUATION
On the day of the incident, there were no lifeguards on duty, and the condominium did not have any requirements for lifeguards to be present.
The condominium manager said its management is looking to introduce new by-laws that will allow security officers to stop any “rough play” from occurring in and around the pool, as well as stop people from walking around the edge of the pool.
They are also in the midst of proposing additional closed-circuit television cameras to cover more angles at the pool and to increase the resolution of the cameras.
At the time of the incident, signs were placed around the pool area, stating that children below 12 years old must be accompanied by an adult and that they should not play in the pool.
Security guards were also tasked to do hourly patrols around the condominium premises, including the pool area.
