OPP dive crews pulled the body of a four-year-old boy from the waterways in Peterborough around 8pm Thursday night after a daylong search.
The child, Avrey Pringle, was swimming in the Otonabee River with relatives around 10:35am when the current pulled him away under a bridge and he didn't surface. There were no adults there, so his older sister ran for help.
A helicopter team was among those assisting in the search efforts for the young boy.
Officers roped off a large section of Inverlea Park for the rescue operation and were asking the public to stay away. An ambulance was standing by.
"He's a little angel,” said Avery’s aunt, Dee Harman.
“He’s got so much energy. He's strong. He’s just a bundle of joy. I just want him to walk out from the bushes. That's all I want him to do."
A group of mothers waded through the water, trying to help in the search.
“I’ve been thinking about that mother all day,” said area resident Shelly O’Callahan.
A 14-year-old girl almost drowned on Wednesday night while swimming at the University of Toronto campus pool in Mississauga. She had no vital signs when she was pulled from the pool, but a lifeguard performed CPR on her until paramedics arrived and she is now in stable condition in hospital.
Over the past couple of weeks, five men died in water-related incidents across the province and four boys drowned in GTA pools. As a result, the province is considering strengthening the rules for all public and private pools.
Water Safety Tips• Always wear a lifejacket or personal flotation device (PFD) – Don’t just have it in the boat. Pick one and wear it.
• Boat sober and ride sober.
• Get the Pleasure Craft Operator Card – The Lifesaving Society’s Boat Operator Accredited Training (BOAT) course is available at participating recreation departments and other aquatic facilities. Take the course to help you know the boating “rules of the road,” how to respond in a boating emergency and how to operate pleasure craft safely.
• Know before you go – Check the weather forecast and complete a simple safety checklist.
• Drive powerboats, personal water craft responsibly – Look before you act, stay low, drive at moderate speeds, be aware of changing weather conditions, and drive with extreme caution and proper lights after dark.
• Closely supervise young children near water – If you’re not "within arms' reach" of them, you’ve gone too far.
• Always swim with a buddy – And play and swim in areas supervised by a lifeguard.
• Protect your neck – Go feet first, first time. Never dive into shallow water.
• Learn to swim and learn lifesaving skills and first aid training.
If you have small children, remember these additional tips at the cottage: • Restrict access to the water.
• Always know how your children can get to the water and establish protective barriers to prevent them from getting access to it. You might even need to crawl around at your children’s height to see things that they can, but you can't.
• Lock all doors when you are inside the cottage.
• Secure low windows that a child might crawl through.
• Build locked, childproof gates around your deck.
• Establish rules that must be followed when around the water – Some families require that non-swimming children wear a lifejacket or PFD whenever they are outside the cottage.
• Make sure your child is wearing a lifejacket or PFD when playing near water or in a boat.
• Closely supervise children with inflatable toys – The toys can blow away from shore and children will often follow them into deeper water. Supervise floating mats closely. Children (and adults) can get caught underneath them and go unnoticed until it's too late.
Source:
Lifesaving Society of Canada