Monticello, NY – Three days after falling into a swimming pool at an upstate bungalow colony, a Crown Heights toddler who had been clinging to life died this afternoon at Westchester Medical Center in Valahalla.
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The accident took place at the Wellspring Bungalow Colony, located off Cold Spring Road in Monticello. 22 month old Zev Aryeh Glick managed to worm his way through the fence that surrounded the pool, together with his three year old brother during shacharis on Shabbos morning, where he tumbled into the water, according to reports in Hamodia. Rescuers came running to the pool, alerted by the brother’s screams and Catskills Hatzolah was called to the scene. The toddler, who was given the additional name Chaim as a zechus for his refuah, was transferred to Westchester Medical Center where he was placed on life support.
A Tehillim rally was held yesterday at the Jewish Childrens’ Museum in Crown Heights and news site COLlive.com estimated that 300 children gathered to daven for Zev Aryeh the son of Rabbi Zalman Glick, director of the museum, and Mrs. Nechama Glick.
Zev Aryeh’s death is the first drowning fatality in the Catskills this summer, and the third serious pool accident of the season. Two drownings were also reported at Bear Mountain’s Hessian Lake in nearby Orange County.
In light of these water related incidents, a spokesperson for Catskills Hatzalah urged the public to exercise extreme vigilance and stressed the importance of exceptionally tight pool security.
“People shouldn’t take something like this lightly. Parents have to watch their own kids and not rely on anyone else when it comes to their childrens’ safety. They need to make sure that the pool area is secure, especially around doorways, where a little bit of give can allow a child to slip through and get into the pool area.”
Another important safety measure includes having a dedicated land line that is directly connected to Hatzolah.
“People rely on their cell phones or cordless phones, but they really aren’t the best choice,” explained the Hatzolah member.
“Cell phone service coverage isn’t as wide in the mountains as it is in the city and with a cordless phone you can’t be too far from the base. In the drowning case this past weekend, the fact that there was no emergency phone and no one was carrying a phone because it was Shabbos, meant it took longer for help to arrive.”
Very said story, BDE.
Parents, infants as young as 6 months can be taught to float in pools and even to swim. If you are able to give your children some swimming lessons at that young age, please consider doing so. It is a good skill for them to have.
Hashem Yerachem…….
Shocking! I am sitting here in tears!
Burech Dayan Hu’Emes.
Father dear, how much more can we take? Don’t You think it’s more than enough already??
What a real Tisha B’av this year…
We must all pray that God give the family strength to overcome their grief and prevent such sad occurrences in the future.
BDE!!! How very very very sad!!!
Tragic BDE. This is the best resource for infant swim lessons
https://isrcrossfit.com
All pools should be fenced with no gaps anywhere and working childproof locks. Satellite phones are not expensive.
Those direct line phones to Hatzalah are a great thing; however there’s 2 very important points.
1) make sure the phones are protected from kids playing with it so you don tie up Hatzolahs lines and causing a busy signal.
2) make sure that when you
Call Hatzalah the correct name of the colony comes up on called ID. Too many times phones R either private or worse listed on another address (common at big moisdes where the bill comes to one address for a few camps) and when U call the H dispatcher frantic u don’t even hear his question trying to confirm the right location and u just scream yes yes. Please come quick just hurry up. And C”V help is being sent to the wrong location.
Besires Toives.
Maybe a wire around the entire floor next to the fence of the pool so when a child steps on this wire the alarm should sound. This can be put on on shabbos and every day after pool hours.
Last year a 2 year old child fell into a pool in the Catskills when the Mother and sisters were swimming in the higher water and they had placed that child in the children’s pool end, but the child was not under strict observation.
That story ended b”h with a hatzoloh rescue and a hospital treatment. But it gave an alarming warning to parents to keep a very close eye on their children at all time while in the Catskills.
unfortunately, all these suggestions are good to help in case of c’v something happening, however prevention is what should be stressed. One can’t rely totally on nissim like in Mitzraim where children were left out to be protected only by H’kbh
Just watch your kids at ALL times near water 100% of the time. This could have been prevented so easily.