The family of a 14-year-old boy who drowned in a Winnipeg community pool two months ago is demanding answers, alleging the lifeguards there weren’t keeping an eye on the teen and didn’t respond properly to help save his life.
Adam Sereda-Paul, an avid swimmer, drowned in the diving end of a pool at the Cindy Klassen Recreation Complex on April 1.
His mother, Cindy Paul, had been watching him from the facility’s observation deck, but went to the bathroom at around 4:11 p.m. that afternoon.
Paul said when she came back, she couldn’t see her son. She tried texting and calling him. It wasn’t until after 4:30 p.m. that she saw a lifeguard move past her and hit an alarm.
“As I got there, this one guy is still pulling him out of the water,” Paul said. “He was right in front of me the entire time as I’m texting and calling him, and I didn’t know.”
Paul said that while she saw lifeguards at the shallow end of the pool as she was calling her son, nobody was by the deep diving area, which is where Adam was swimming.
Access to the deep end of the pool is only granted after completing a swim test, which Adam had done.
Paul said three lifeguards attended Adam, applying CPR, but stopped quickly.
She said she could see one of them was struggling to find an item on her medical bag, and that another was kneeling by the teen’s head, but did nothing.
“I was yelling, ‘Do something,'” Paul said. “Another lifeguard comes and sits besides me, asking name, phone number.… I told her to get lost.”
Paul said she overheard the lifeguards tell emergency services there was a shift change when the incident happened, but said that isn’t an excuse to leave the pool unattended.
Jason Sereda, Adam’s father, said the response shows the lifeguards “didn’t have a clue” about what to do, and the drowning raises questions about whether lifeguards in other facilities are properly trained to do their jobs.
He wants the city to put more lifeguards in community pools and ensure they’re adequately trained.
“You’re a first responder,” said Adam’s older sister, Kyra. “You are watching people and you are taking care of them. It’s not just some job where you’re lounging around. You have to be observant.”
The family said they have reached out to the city several times, but haven’t heard back.
‘There’s no excuse for it’
The city said the day after Adam’s death it was conducting a review into the incident, and that it would debrief the facility’s staff.
On Friday, a spokesperson told CBC News the review is part of a post-critical incident protocol, and there’s no additional information to share about it at this time.
“The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service has met with members of the family to walk through its response to the incident and to provide a full picture of its efforts to provide care,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.
The province said Public Health conducted an inspection of the site the day after the teen’s death, and that the facility was found in compliance with regulatory requirements.
Sereda said the family just wants to know what led to their son’s death that day — and what can be done to prevent tragedies like it in the future.
“There’s no excuse for it. We want answers,” he said. “There was major negligence.… I’m enraged.”
Kyra, who moved back in with her mom after her brother’s death, said you can tell something’s missing in the home.
Adam was very active, and enjoyed making fun bets and just “being busy,” she said.
“We were just inseparable, always wanting to do something together,” said Kyra.
“It could be just as simple as us being in one of our rooms and just watching really funny videos and just trying not to laugh. And I mean, he lost every single time because he found anything funny.… Just the most memorable laugh.”