GotAEDFar too often, the death of a student is defined by the setting, not the cause. What caused this student to drown? I hope that they investigate sudden cardiac arrest.
SAINT JOHN – A 17-year-old student died Tuesday, two days after he nearly drowned in the pool at the Canada Games Aquatic Centre.
Jennifer Li, president of the Chinese Cultural Association of Saint John, confirmed the teenager passed away at about 2 p.m. at the Saint John Regional Hospital’s intensive-care unit.
Li said the student, who had been in the city for just one month, was the only child of a Chinese family. The young man had been on life support after he nearly drowned at the Aquatic Centre on Sunday.
“I feel very sad,” Li, who had visited the youth in hospital several times, said in an interview. “I cried, because the boy is too young and I don’t know how to accept this result for his parents. That’s really, really hard. I’m a mother. I can understand.”
Li said the teen’s parents are flying in from China and will arrive in the city on Thursday.
The student, who had started Grade 11 at Simonds High School just last week, was pulled from the Aquatic Centre’s pool on Sunday afternoon after police received a 911 call in the middle of the afternoon about a possible drowning. When police arrived lifeguards were trying to resuscitate the young man, who was later transported to hospital.
