A three-year-old girl is fighting for her life in a coma after a tragic near-drowning incident at a children’s party on the Gold Coast.
The heartbreaking event occurred on Sunday afternoon at a home in Oxenford, Australia.
Emergency services were urgently called to the scene around 2.45pm after the toddler was found unresponsive at the bottom of a swimming pool.
The young girl is currently receiving critical care at the Gold Coast University Hospital, where she remains in a coma.
According to reports, the incident unfolded when a pool gate was allegedly left open, allowing the child to wander into the pool area while adults were preoccupied with supervising other children on a nearby bouncy castle.
CCTV footage captured the horrifying moment when the little girl entered the pool area and attempted to reach a floating mattress, only to lose her balance and fall into the water.
The footage reportedly shows the girl struggling in the pool before sinking to the bottom. It was several minutes before a man, believed to be the homeowner, discovered her lifeless at the bottom of the pool. He quickly pulled her out of the water and began resuscitation efforts.
“The information that we’ve got to date is that there was a party there with several children and adults in attendance,” Acting Superintendent Scott Knowles from Gold Coast Police told reporters. “What they’ve allegedly gone and done is actually left the pool gate open to allow the kids to move between the pool and the rest of the party.”
Acting Superintendent Knowles said: “Whilst they were distracted at a nearby jumping castle—the adults and the other kids—the three-year-old has entered the pool area. From the CCTV footage that we’ve seen, she has attempted to reach for an inflatable mattress that was floating in the pool and has toppled into the pool.”
The child’s condition remains critical, and the extent of her injuries is still unknown.
“It was several minutes later that the house owner located her at the bottom of the pool, grabbed her, and pulled her back up. He had to resuscitate her, so she had actually stopped breathing,” Knowles added. “He’s managed to resuscitate her. She’s in a coma at the hospital. We don’t know the extent of the injuries at this point in time.”
The incident is now under investigation by the Queensland Police Service’s Child Protection Investigation Unit. Authorities are urging other parents to be vigilant, especially as the warmer weather approaches, and to ensure that pool gates and other safety measures are properly secured.
Acting Superintendent Knowles told the public: “The message to everybody out there, especially with the warmer weather coming on, is make sure those gates are closed to the pool. Make sure those large bodies of water are safe from young people. Please be aware of pools and securing them.”