Near-drowning wasn't first close call in family's pool

By ROBERT FARLEY

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 20, 2000

EAST LAKE -- Nichole Parker, the 10-month-old who maneuvered her walker and fell into a backyard pool Tuesday, was not the first child to nearly drown in the family's pool.

In February of 1999, Colin and Therese Parker's then-2-year-old son, Nicholas, nearly drowned in the pool behind their home on Equine Drive.

Although the near-drowning Tuesday was deemed an accident, Pinellas County Sheriff's Office Detective Robert Hathaway said that because it was the second near-drowning of a child in that pool in a little more than a year, he referred the case to the state Department of Children and Families.

"You need to watch your children," he said.

Nichole was in fair to good condition Wednesday at All Children's Hospital and was expected to be released today, a hospital spokeswoman said.

According to Sheriff's Office accounts, Colin Parker, 34, was taking care of his daughter Tuesday afternoon and had put her in a walker. When he went to the bathroom, she rolled outside through an open sliding glass door and fell into the pool, deputies said.

Parker pulled his daughter from the pool, performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation and called 911. Nichole was flown to Bayfront Medical Center and later was transferred to All Children's Hospital.

Hathaway, a crimes against children investigator, was called in to review the case, but since there was no death, there will be no criminal investigation.

"When you look at it, he (Mr. Parker) made a mistake, but it's not criminal," Hathaway said. "Everyone makes mistakes. Pool safety needs to be taught." The Parkers had a baby security fence for the pool, said Sgt. Greg Tita, Sheriff's Office spokesman, but they took it down Saturday to power wash the pool deck and it was not put back up.

Baby security fences are not required around pools, though state legislators are considering bills that would require homeowners who install new pools to include safety measures. The first near-drowning at the Parker home at 467 Equine Drive occurred in February 1999.

According to a sheriff's report at the time, Nicholas was riding his bike and fell into the pool. The parents found him floating on his back. They performed CPR and called 911. By the time emergency workers arrived, the child was conscious and breathing, the report states, but he was flown by helicopter to All Children's Hospital as a precaution, Tita said.

The case will be assigned to a child abuse investigator with the Sheriff's Office, said Elaine Fulton-Jones, a spokeswoman for DCF in Pinellas County. The investigator will interview the parents, she said, and determine if any action, such as requiring child supervision classes, is warranted.

The Parkers could not be reached for comment.

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