CCTV clip shows toddler's last moments before he drowned in a creek in Easter egg hunt tragedy
ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA: Tragedy befell a family on Easter Sunday, April 9, when a one-year-old boy fell into a creek and later died. The boy and his older brother were reportedly wandering the streets in search of Easter eggs for up to 40 minutes before the toddler was found unconscious in a nearby creek.
CCTV footage captured the two children, who weren't identified, on the hunt for Easter eggs as they wandered down their street in Paralowie, in Adelaide's north, Sunday morning. Around 9 am, the body of the one-year-old was pulled from the Little Para River. Despite the paramedics' best efforts, the child died at the Women's and Children's Hospital on Monday afternoon, April 10.
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Parents crash their vehicle
According to 7News, the children are understood to have wandered out of their home and made their way down to the creek, some 984ft away, before their parents called the authorities around 40 minutes later. The parents had reportedly scoured the area looking for their children and crashed their black Hyundai IX35 into a ditch in their panicked state. The vehicle was seen teetering on the edge of the embankment, with its rear tire up in the air. Mandy Farndale, a nearby resident, saw the dramatic moment. "They realized that he was there, so they rushed ... it was spur of the moment. They just wanted to get out," she told 9News of the parents rushing to get to their child. Investigators are reportedly combing through CCTV footage to determine exactly when and how the children wandered off on their own.
Neighbors react
Speaking to 7News, neighbor Trista Koleff said she witnessed the heartbreaking scene after the boy had been found. "I came out and I saw (an) ambulance working on the child doing resuscitation," she said, adding, "Seeing the mum cry like that, I had to go inside. It was traumatic for me, I was really shaken up by it." Another neighbor Ryan Nuske told the Adelaide Advertiser he saw the "dad walking down the street looking panicked," adding, "When I got there he (the boy) had just been pulled out of the water."
According to the City of Salisbury, the creek where the little boy drowned was mostly dry but had filled up following a wet week in Adelaide that brought more than 11mm of rain. Mayor Gillian Aldridge urged parents to keep an eye on their children when they were near any waterbody. “Often the creek is dry, but when there’s been rain, it picks up from the roads, and it goes into the creeks, and therefore we all need to be aware when there’s water around,” Aldridge said. Police are preparing a report for the coroner.
Toddlers at risk around water
Toddlers between the ages of one and four are at the highest risk around water, per Better Health. "They are mobile and curious but don't understand the danger of water. A toddler or child can drown in five centimeters of water. Every exposed water source, no matter how shallow, poses a significant danger," the website states. Parents are therefore advised to actively supervise their children around water at all times and preferably enroll them in swimming or water safety lessons from a young age.