According to The Christian Post on Sunday, June 11, a four-year-old boy died nearly a week after he went swimming. The Texas family is still grieving and shocked that this happened to their son. They are speaking out so that other parents will not have to go through what they have gone through.
Over the Memorial Day weekend, Frankie Delgado's family took him to Texas City Dike to swim. The child was playing in Water that only came up to his knees. When a boat passed by, it caused a big wave to knock the boy down. At the time, he didn't seem hurt.
In fact, he got up quickly and continued to play.
Later symptoms
The following night little Frankie began to have diarrhea and began to vomit. The doctor misdiagnosed the symptoms and told the parents their son just had a stomach bug. The symptoms did not go away. Instead, they continued for another week. One night the boy woke up with a new symptom. He said his shoulder was hurting. The child died of what doctors later described as Dry Drowning because water was around his lungs and heart.
Dry drowning
This type of drowning is also referred to as secondary drowning. It a rare condition, but it does happen sometimes. Doctors explain that it is a delayed physical reaction to inhaling water. In cases like Frankie's, a person cannot get enough oxygen into the lungs to breath.
Doctors also report that a child can experience dry drowning much later even if only a small amount of water is swallowed while swimming or by playing in the water at the beach or in a pool.
In dry drowning cases, symptoms are not immediate. They can show up from 24 to 48 hours later. Like little Frankie, the symptoms include diarrhea and vomiting.
Many times, it also includes persistent coughs, fever, chest pains and difficulty breathing.
Children should be monitored after they have been playing in the water whether there are symptoms or not. Parents should take young children to the emergency room immediately if they suspect secondary drowning. Any excess water can be drained from the child's lungs and from around the child's heart to keep him from dying.
Secretary drowning can occur even with a small amount of liquid, and it usually occurs in young children. However, it could happen in some adults. That's why waterboarding is such a serious form of punishment because a person could die as a result. Water is poured over a cloth covering an individual's face and nose that restricts his breathing. The person is tortured and has the same symptoms of drowning.
