Ottawa paramedics said Friday a young girl is in serious condition following a dramatic swimming pool incident at Sylvia Holden pool, off Queen Elizabeth Driveway near Fifth Avenue in the Glebe.
First responders were called to the scene shortly after noon.
Responders found a young child face down in the water, said Supt. Nicolas Guertin.
“She was breathing,” Guertin said. She was further revived en route to hospital.
Several Ottawa police cruisers lined O’Connor Street outside Sylvia Holden Park as firefighters and paramedics responded to the scene.
The park is located just steps from Ottawa Fire Station 12 at the corner of O’Connor and Fifth Avenue. The wading pool was taped off with yellow police tape while officers remained on scene into the afternoon.
Under sunny skies, about a dozen children sat together beneath the shade of a tree under the supervision of several adults while worried parents and other park users looked on.
“It was just a panic all of a sudden. Everyone was scrambling to help,” said one park user, who asked not to be identified.
Lifeguards, some of whom appeared visibly shaken, later gathered around a nearby picnic table, speaking by phone with city officials as they worked to piece together the sequence of events. Police officers remained at the scene Friday afternoon as the investigation continued.
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