I don’t buy this story as it is written. I think with further investigation one would find that the child did indeed drown but was not drown prior to lying down. He essentially “drank” the pool water which did not agree with him and after lying down he regurgitated the pool water in his sleep thereby drowning on the very water he drank. This happens often times with drunks who drown on their own vomit or the massive amount of alcohol they drink.

That is so sad. My heart and prayers go out to Jon-Jon’s family. We have all learned something new from this story and will take that into consideration with our children.

Wow…what a sad thing to read about!!

THIS SOUNDS INCREDULOUS. SOMETHING IS FISHY WITH THIS STORY. THE BOY MUST HAVE EITHER HAD AN UNDERLYING MEDICAL CONDITION OR THERE WAS FOUL PLAY. I HOPE SOMEONE IS INVESTIGATING FURTHER…..

The article should have used the words “inhaling or inhaled” or “breathing or breathed” instead of “swallowing or swallowed”.
This article can terify small kids which will be led to believe they can drown in their sleep after swallowing water, which they cannot.

I think this is a very important article and is a warning for all of us to be more vigilent with our children even after swimming, especially at young ages. I would have never ever thought of secondary drowning after a swim in the pool and as a parent of 3 young children with summertime here, it definitely has given me a heads up to keep a closer eye on my kids. My heart goes out to this family for this unfortunate accident.

can someone please elaborate? swallowing water has nothing to do with one’s lungs. we swallow water all day long. inhaling water would have immediate effects on our breathing. this story seems way too vague. it irresponsibly creates unnecessary fear among the millions of parents that will turn their kids loose at the pools this summer.

Secondary drowning??? I have NEVER heard that term used and didn’t realize such an event existed! What an unexpected tragedy! Perhaps others will pay closer heed to this threat with the loss of this child… we’ve all been in a similar situation where the risk is there!

I FEEL SO BADLY FOR HIS FAMILY. ALL KIDS SWALLOW WATER FROM TIME TO TIME WHILE SWIMMING. DID THIS LITTLE BOY SWALLOW MORE THAN USUAL?

That’s horrible, I feel for the family. It just goes to show you how easily we can be taken away. I can’t imagine that happening to my son, I would be devastated. So sorry, once again.

I dont’ understand the title? From the story the boy didn’t swallow the water but aspirated it?

If this young child had swallowed water, nothing would have come of it. He inhaled it, then died later from drowning! I for one am quite irritated at this story because it is fails to give anyone the facts and gives little to no advice on how to avoid it in the future…

While I do feel horribly for this family, I am angered at the article. This article is so misleading! You can not “drown” from “swallowed” water. We swallow water everyday. There is more to this story than is being reported. It is stories like this that create unnessessary fear in people.
Nevertheless, my prayers go out to this family!

If you look at the original story on Charleston.net, it says he “inhaled” water, not swallowed water. Fox didn’t want to plagarize the story so they substituted inhaled with swallowed - which is not the same. He was also autistic so not being able to really tell his mom what happened probably caused more problems.

I manage a pool, supervise 11 lifeguards and also am a lifeguard instructor. This story is very disturbing. I see younger kids all the time trying to “drink” pool water. Parents need to discourage their kids from doing this as well as any lifeguard on duty who sees a child trying to “drink” the water.

i think that is should go into further ivestigation because they should check his back ground medical record and find out was that apartment complex water was swimmable for the kids to be in there maybe it was something that was contiminated in the water.

For those of you who need medical explanations (blah, blah, blah) . . . Anything is possible! Even medical experts don’t know everything. If it wasn’t this, it would’ve been something else. No matter what you do, you can’t prevent when it’s your time to go. We are all very lucky to have been touched by an angel (Johnny). He has and will always be in God’s hands. Simply put, this story serves as a reminder of how fleeting life is. Use it wisely. My deepest condolences to Mrs. Jackson and the family.

Terrible moment for the family and for all of us parents, my heart goes out for this family my deepest condolence.

My deepest sympathy and condolences to the family. I am so sorry that you have to encounter this tragedy. I recently lost my 2 year old daughter suddenly to a respiratory virus. We were told that she was getting better and there was no reason to think that she would die when she did. I’m sure your pain is immeasurable and I want you to know that you are in my prayers. Again, I’m so very sorry for your loss.

Love,
Amy Elliott

Sad that this happened.

The Emergency room would not have saved his life. (As the main article recommends to error on the side of going to one.) You ever been to one with the common 8 plus hour waits with people crying in pain but left untreated in the waiting room?

You are much better off at an urgent care clinic to see a Dr. quicker not just the Triage Nurse the ER gets you then wait forever.

“Secondary drowning not unheard of”? Where does this doctor live? Uganda? I’ve never, ever heard of drowning when you’ve been out of the water. I don’t believe “drowning” was the cause of death.

Anna, get a grip! Yes there are explanations. Explanations are good. Knowledge is good. Knowledge prevents things from happening again that don’t need to happen.

Anyone who has gone through lifeguard training should know about secondary freshwater drownings. This has nothing to do with ingesting or “swallowing” water; rather this occurs due to freshwater taken into the lungs which can later burst, or “crack”, cells due to osmosis. This is not common in salt water drownings since, in that case, osmosis works to remove water from cells and the cell membranes remain intact. As a teenage WSI many years ago, I made sure that all of my lifeguard trainees knew about this potential life-threatening situation.

The rule is: in any identified case of near-drowning occurring in freshwater, you treat it as a serious emergency which requires medical attention.

I’m afraid I’m going to have to call BS on this story.

I am sorry for this loss. A message to the health professionals out there - would’ve a simple x-ray of the boy’s lungs showed enough amount of fluid to have resulted in immediate hospitilization and supportive care? I understand when people don’t think there’s a problem, then no action is required. However, hopefully this tragedy will instill a new sense of caution regarding complacency.

I extend my deepest sympathy to Johnny Jackson’s family. Also, I just watched Dr. Manny discuss this on FoxNews. Having not heard about this previously, I thank him for explaining this and what symptoms to be aware of so that action can be taken asap.

This story scares the crap out of me. My children accidentally inhale/swallow watter all the time. It is one of the “hazards” of swimming for a young active child. I feel for that mother.

I am thankfull that you aired the story, I have two small granchildren that are unable to tell you how they fill. The information you gave on simptons are very helpful, if you have any more signs please let us know.

I just wanted to let your family know how truley sorry I am for your loss. My thoughts definetly are with your family. My prayers are also with all of you.

Patrick from Austin Texas I do believe you are wrong the white foam is not vomit my daughter got over our safty feence and drown in my mothers pool and while the paramedics where performing CPR the white foam was coming out of her mouth and nose and it was very evident it was defenatly not vomit so please do some DROWNING research.