July 13, 2009

This summer is turning out to be a deadly summer in recreational water for children of all ages. It's the worst the state has seen in years.

According to Child Protective Services, Texas averages 70 child drownings a year. It's only July, and Texas has had 67. In North Texas alone, there have been 19. Thirteen of those in just the last six weeks.

Irving father Manuel Reyes has a backyard pool. He makes sure his 2-year old Ian wears his floaties and then watches him closely. The boy's mother Dinorah says Ian and his brother Andre never swim without watchful eyes on deck.

Dinorah Pena said, "They are never alone, if they want to swim it's always my dad or my mom or my husband."

The boys take swim lessons. Their parents say they've always been fearful of pool accidents.

CPS also recommends lessons. But nothing can replace supervision.

Marissa Gonzales, Spokesperson for Child Protective Servcies said, "the majority of cases we're seeing are very young children who somehow get into their backyard pools unattended or their apartment complex pools unattended."

In these cases, CPS will investigate and determine whether the home is safe for other children.

Gonzales said, "In some cases, there are even gates around the pool and for one reason or another the child is able to get in and drown sadly."

Leaving small children alone around a pool for two minutes can be too late.

The water is alluring, and so are pool toys.

The Reyes family backyard is small, so the pool doesn't have a security fence. The backdoor is it, and one of the locks is up high. And the family has a new alarm system that sounds off if either of the boys should manage to slip out the backdoor.

While most of North Texas' child drowning deaths are in pool or lakes, one this year was in a old septic tank and another in a bathtub.

Copyright © 2009, KDAF-TV

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