GOOSE CREEK, SC (WBTW) – Drowning can kill hours after being submersed in water. It’s a phenomena known as “dry drowning,” and in 2008, a South Carolina mom discovered through a tragedy exactly what happens to a child’s body after they have taken in too much water in a pool or beach incident.
Medical News Today documents that 10-year-old Johnny Jackson, of Goose Creek, South Carolina, died at home in June 2008 from “dry drowning” more than an hour after going swimming and walking home with his mother.
Johnny’s mother, Cassandra Jackson, told NBC News in a story broadcast on the TODAY show just days after the incident:
“I’ve never known a child could walk around, talk, speak and their lungs be filled with water.”
The medical website says Johnny must have got some water in his lungs while he was swimming, but there was no immediate concern because he didn’t show any signs of respiratory distress. He walked home with his mother and sister.
Johnny’s mother said after she bathed him, the 10-year-old said he felt sleepy and went to lie down. When Cassandra went to check on her son a little later that afternoon, she saw his face was covered in a “spongy white material”. He was rushed to hospital but it was too late.
Dr. Daniel Rauch, pediatrician at New York University Langone Medical Center , said there are three important signs that parents and care givers should look out for:
- difficulty breathing
- extreme tiredness
- changes in behavior
All three symptoms result from the brain not getting enough oxygen because of water in the lungs.
Dr. Rauch recognizes that these symptoms can be difficult to recognize in children, especially young children, but they should be taken much more seriously if your child has been swimming. You should take him or her to an emergency department to get checked out if the symptoms persist. If there is water in a lung, the doctors put a tube into the lung and force oxygen through under pressure. The lung then heals itself in time.
According to Dr Suzanne Moore Shepherd, drowning is defined as:
“Death secondary to asphyxia while immersed in a liquid, usually water, or within 24 hours of submersion”.
The phrase “within 24 hours of submersion” includes what has been more commonly termed “dry drowning”, where the victim gets water in the lungs but does not drown straight away, like Johnny, they could walk home and the incident could be fatal even hours later.Medical News Today contributed to this report.
