METZDEN CONCORD - 3 yo - North Lauderdale FL

Name of 3-year-old who drowned in North Lauderdale released

By Megan O'Matz, Sun Sentinel
10:09 a.m. EDT, September 30, 2012

NORTH LAUDERDALE—

The mother of a 3-year-old boy awoke from an
afternoon nap Saturday to a real-life nightmare. Her son, whom she
thought was being watched by an uncle, had drowned.

"She ran outside and saw his sandals floating in the pool," Broward Sheriff's spokeswoman Dani Moschella said.

Metzden Concord, 3, died at the home of his grandmother in the 6700 block of Rio Pinar.

Both mother and son were resting, along with the elder woman, in one
bedroom, when the boy asked to go see his 25-year-old uncle in another
bedroom, according to BSO.

Unbeknownst to the mother, the uncle was also asleep. None of the adults knew the child was unsupervised.

Metzden slipped out a sliding glass door and ended up in the backyard pool,
which was not maintained and so was murky, Moschella said.

When the family realized that the boy was missing, the child's uncle jumped into the pool, pulled him out and began CPR.

North Lauderdale Fire Rescue took Metzden to the Coral Springs Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The incident is under investigation, but no charges are expected to be filed.

The mother is six months pregnant.

BSO was not releasing the name of the boy Saturday evening, saying some close relatives had not been notified.

"This is a devastated family," Moschella said.

Drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 4 in Florida, according to state health officials.

This is the second such tragedy in Broward County this month. Exactly four weeks ago, also on a Saturday, a 23-month-old boy drowned in a Tamarac pool. In that case, adults were nearby but were momentarily distracted.

BSO repeatedly stresses the importance of putting barriers between children
and water, including fencing pools and installing alarms that sound
when backdoors are opened.

The North Lauderdale home had no gate around the pool or cover on top of it.

"Children wander out to swimming pools because they're curious about water,"
Moschella said. "And this is a silent death. They often don't scream or
yell. They fall into the water and there is no splash…and no one can
hear them. Oftentimes we have what we have today. We have responsible
adults inside who just lose track of the child, for whatever reason, and
we have a tragedy."

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/north-lauderdale/fl-toddler-drowns-north-lauderdale-20120929,0,6115060.story