Toddler pulled from lake after wandering away from West Palm Beach apartment
Authorities are investigating after a small child was pulled from a lake near Fairway Vista Apartments after wandering away from an apartment in West Palm Beach.
By Web staff
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WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (WPBF) — Authorities are investigating after a small child was pulled from a lake Wednesday morning after wandering away from an apartment in West Palm Beach.
It happened around 10:30 a.m. at the Fairway Vista Apartments, located in the 1900 block of Brandywine Road.
Bystanders initiated CPR. West Palm Beach Fire Rescue found the child unconscious, not breathing and without a pulse.
The toddler was taken to St. Mary’s Medical Center.
As of now, detectives don’t know exactly how the 22-month old boy was able to get outside the apartment. The public information officer for the West Palm Beach Police Department, Mike Jachles, said an older child was in the apartment that the toddler left.
“The three or four-year-old just said, ‘Baby. Baby,’ and that drew (the mother’s) attention to start looking for the baby so she immediately looked inside the apartment for the baby and then once she saw the screen sliding door open, she went outside and found the child in the lake,” said Jachles.
Police say the mom went into the lake and brought the child out, and that’s when neighbors performed CPR on the toddler.
One neighbor, Jermya Adams, who is a certified nursing assistant, was able to get water out of the little boy and she says she kept performing CPR until the boy had a pulse and was breathing again.
“I just saw the child basically seem lifeless so my first thought is start compressions and give the child air and whatever you can to try to save this child,” said Adams. “Water was coming out every time, every time and I knew, ‘OK, there is a lot of water in this child and your job right now is just to get as much as you can out since help is on the way.'”
It’s still unclear if the boy will recover.
Courtney Manni witnessed the scene unfold.
“I just heard what was, for lack of a better word, a blood curdling scream that wasn’t from a person other than a mother and I sensed that and immediately flew up out of bed, opened the door,” said Manni. “Most of the morning I was crying because I just can’t fathom seeing that little life lying down there like that, and his body was just so helpless.”
The West Palm Beach Police Department said the Florida Department of Children and Families could conduct an investigation if the agency deems it necessary.
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