PINEWOOD, Fla. — A family is grieving nearly three days after Fire Rescue divers pulled a pair of 13-year-old twin brothers who didn’t know how to swim out of a pond in Miami-Dade’s Pinewood neighborhood. They later died.
There were red heart-shaped balloons, candles, and toys where one of the boys fell into the pond while “horse playing,” and the other jumped in to help at Arthur Woodard Park, at 1220 NW 99 St.
Witnesses said one of the boys appeared to have been tangled in the legs in the underwater weeds when the divers pulled him out.
“I would hope that changes will be made to make it safer for other children so others don’t have to deal with what we are going through right now,” Joinel Louis, the boy’s stepfather, said in Creole.
A child who was at the park had a cell phone and called 911, police said.
After quickly pulling the first teen out of the pond, three divers continued their search through invasive aquatic plants for the second teenage boy, who took them longer to find, according to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.
Fire rescue personnel took both teenage boys, who were in critical condition, in two separate ambulances to North Shore Hospital.
A doctor pronounced one dead first. The other was in critical but stable condition, but his condition deteriorated, and he later died, according to the Miami-Dade Police Department.
The teenage boys died less than half a mile away from their home.
“For our children to die in a situation like this is horrible,” Louis said in Creole.
The drownings also raised awareness about the need for free or affordable swimming lessons for minors in South Florida.
Here is a list of educational options in South Florida:
- The Red Cross offers a few free online courses including Water Safety for Parents and Caregivers and Orientation to Swim Lessons for Parents and Caregivers.
- StreetWaves, a nonprofit organization based out of Delray Beach has a free Aquatics Enrichment Program. It requires parents or legal guardians to apply.
- The Children’s Services Council of Broward County partnered with Broward County’s SWIM Central program to provide a $40 coupon upon application for children younger than 8 years old that apply to a list of vendors.
- The city of Miami has a learn-to-swim program that offers eight lessons for $45 for residents of the city and $65 for those who don’t live in the city.
Location
Copyright 2023 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.
