Student Drowned In Backyard Pool As His Friends Partied

Several days ago, we blogged about the fact that when a person is drowning, they physically cannot scream for help or thrash around to get a lifeguard’s — or anyone’s — attention. The reality is the opposite of whatever you have ever seen about drowning victims in TV shows like “Baywatch” and in films.

http://www.tbilaw.com/blog/2010/07/how-a-drowning-really-looks-not-the-false-images-of-tv-and-film.html?preview=true&preview_id=731&preview_nonce=008c504315

Well, unfortunately, there was a death in Long Island this weekend that illustrated what we said about drowning. Nelson Cole, 21, of Brooklyn drowned in a pool Sunday as his friends partied nearby him.      

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/07/26/2010-07-26_bklyn_man_drowns_as_pals_party.html

Cole, a student at the Rochester Institute of Technology, was attending a birthday party in Plainview. But he died even though partygoers were nearby. He did not yell for help, or wave his arms to try to get everyone’s attention. Drowning people don’t do that in real life.

Cole’s friends pulled his body out of the deep end of the pool at 4 a.m. He didn’t have a heartbeat, and paramedics couldn’t revive him.