11-Year-Old Drowns at Myrtle Beach While ‘Soaking Wet’ Brother Sought Help

Stock image of feet in a pool. jackmac34/Pixabay

An 11-year-old boy has died after drowning in a pool at the Beach Colony Resort in Myrtle Beach on June 2 while his “soaking wet” younger brother was looking for help.

Horry County Deputy Coroner Chris Dontell said Trenton Piper of Cincinnati, Ohio, was taken to Grand Strand Medical Center on Sunday where he was declared dead, reported WMBF News.

The case was investigated by Myrtle Beach police and no charges were filed against anyone.

A petition by a group of mothers on Change.org describes what happened that day: “A group of 5 mom’s planned a care free, no responsibility vacation entering the Beach Colony Resort in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on; Sunday, June 2nd,” the petition said.

It said their reservations were not as expected and four out of the five mothers approached the front desk. “As they were describing the very bumpy start to a relaxing trip they were interrupted by a soaking wet young boy politely asking for help because his brother was drowning in the pool,” the petition said.

Two of the mothers ran towards the pool and the other two followed not far behind. “As they entered the indoor pool area, there were no adults in sight and the body of what appeared to be an older male hunched over was sunken to the bottom of the 6 1/2 foot pool,” the appeal said.

One of the mothers jumped into the pool and tried to lift the boy but could not help. Another mother entered the pool and tried to help the first one but they were not able to lift the boy together.

The third mother loudly called for male assistance and finally two male maintenance men pulled the boy out. “Two mothers immediately began chest compressions, switching off to conserve energy, one mother called 911,” the appeal said.

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The mothers said they got no help from the hotel staff or management. They started the petition on change.org to make sure that hotels and resorts “should have proper first aid with AED equipment on site, inspected regularly, and at minimum two trained staff members at all times with consistent training and refreshers.”

Deaths Due to Drowning

Drowning is considered a major public health problem worldwide and 360,000 people died from it in 2015, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The WHO report says drowning is the third largest cause of unintentional injury death, accounting for 7 percent of the total injury-related deaths globally.

“Children, males, and individuals with increased access to water are most at risk of drowning,” said the report.

In the United States, 45 percent of drowning deaths happen among the most economically active segment of the population.

“Coastal drowning in the United States alone accounts for $273 million each year in direct and indirect costs. In Australia and Canada, the total annual cost of drowning injury is $85.5 million and $173 million respectively,” said the report.