Drowning upsets a neighborhood

Marisa O’Neil

Candles, flowers, a well-worn teddy bear and blue-and-white balloons

-- one bearing a childlike drawing of a baby’s face shedding a tear

-- on Wednesday marked the entry to a community pool where a toddler

drowned the day before.

Taylor Troy Ackroyd, 3, died at Hoag Hospital on Tuesday night,

hours after he was found at the bottom of a poolside spa in the

Newport Terrace condominium complex. Police investigating the

toddler’s death believe it was a tragic accident.

“Basically, it’s an unfortunate set of circumstances,” Newport

Beach Police Sgt. Bill Hartford said. “It was a miscommunication

between family members as far as who was watching him.”

At about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Taylor was inside the gated pool area

with his father and a teenage girl believed to be his sister,

Hartford said. Taylor’s father left the pool area for only two or

three minutes and returned to find the boy at the bottom of the spa.

A female caller told a dispatcher what had happened and the

dispatcher talked the father through administering CPR, said Newport

Beach Fire Department battalion chief Paul Matheis.

A Newport Beach police officer applied a portable defibrillator to

Taylor, but the machine’s monitors indicated a shock should not be

administered, Hartford said.

Paramedics took the boy to Hoag Hospital where he was pronounced

dead at 6:45 p.m., Orange County supervising deputy coroner Rod

Thomas said. Coroners ruled Taylor’s death a drowning.

An L-shaped swimming pool, a wading pool and the spa at the

complex near Talbert Regional Park were quiet Wednesday afternoon.

Outside sat vases of flowers, a cluster of candles and balloons

bearing hand-written phrases, such as “Forever in our hearts,” and

“Our hearts and prayers are with you.”

A golden-yellow bear with matted fur and a purple bow sat atop a

small, heart-shaped bench.

Family members could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Neighbors Sam and Bette Romeo stopped by to leave a vase of

flowers. Earlier, they left a candle with cherubs on it.

They didn’t know Taylor but were touched by the news of his death.

“We feel awful,” Bette Romeo said.

The drowning serves as a sad reminder to always be careful around

water, Hartford said.

“It only takes two or three minutes for a tragedy to occur,” he

said. “When kids are drowning, they don’t make a sound.”

Drowning is the second-leading cause of injury-related death of

children ages 1 to 14, according to a 2004 study by the National Safe

Kids Campaign. Roughly 60% of those deaths are of children age 4 and

younger, and boys are the most frequent victims, according to the

study.

Vigilance is key to keeping children safe around water, said

Newport Beach Fire Department spokeswoman Katie Freeman. She

recommended keeping a one-to-one ratio of parents to children.

Parents should keep at least a 5-foot-high fence around pool areas

and have alarms on doors leading to pool areas, she said. A cover or

net over a pool can also help prevent accidents, she said.

Even swimming lessons and flotation devices don’t prevent drowning

accidents, she said.

Costa Mesa fire-prevention specialist Brenda Emrick suggested

having a designated “water watcher” whose only job is to keep an eye

on children in and around the pool.

“Diligence -- absolute, positive parent supervision -- is the best

barrier there is to drowning,” she said. “It takes that constant,

constant, constant supervision. It can happen to anybody at any

time.”