Perth toddler dies after squeezing through hole in fence, falling in neighbour’s pool
A three-year-old boy has died at Perth Children’s Hospital after falling into his new neighbour’s swimming pool – on the same day as his mother’s birthday.
On Thursday, December 29, Stephen and Zahra Powell and their two young sons moved into their new home in the south-eastern suburb of Canning Vale.
Isaac Powell has died after falling into a backyard swimming pool.
“She was so excited for the future and as it was her birthday, she was trying to get everything organised for a family get together at the new house,” Zahra’s sister, Ummu Bakri, wrote on social media.
As the parents were setting up the house, they realised their three-year-old son Isaac was missing. A search of the surrounding streets found the young boy lifeless in the neighbours’ swimming pool.
Zahra, a nurse, performed CPR on her son until emergency services arrived.
Isaac spent five days in hospital and his parents made the decision to turn his life support off on Monday night.
Police who attended the scene found two boundary fence panels missing, which had not been visible to Isaac’s family.
The extended family are raising money with a GoFundMe page in an effort to cover funeral and psychology costs for the family, as well as a place to stay as they did not want to return to their new house.
Isaac’s father Stephen Powell had gone out to buy his wife a birthday cake as she cleaned up for visitors and the three-year-old was outside, he told Nine News Perth.
Public servant Stephen Powell speaks to Nine News Perth outside the hospital where he has spent the past five days. Credit:Nine News Perth
“She was distracted, there was family there … we thought he’d be safe in his own backyard,” he said.
“Then she called me and said he’s missing.
“There was some damage to a fence we didn’t really pick up on when we moved in, you’re not going to see every fault and defect on your property and my beautiful boy, he was so full of energy, and he was just playing in his backyard, and he’s managed to find a hole in the fence, he got through to our neighbours’ house – we haven’t even met them yet – and he’s fallen in their pool.
“She is a nurse, she tried her best, she tried to perform CPR.
“Obviously the paramedics did their best and the police were fantastic.
“I walked in and [the police officer] was distraught, but she was doing her job to the best of her abilities.
“Tears streaming down her face but she was still doing her job.
“But he just wasn’t, he was never going to survive. They got his heart going again and that gave us time at the hospital, so we will forever be grateful for that.”
Over the days that followed, Stephen said family came and paid their respects and cultural rituals were observed.
Isaac Powell.
“They were so patient with us … we both [knew] … the family came and paid their respects … for five days, there was someone by his bed,” Stephen said.
“I don’t know we go forward, it was her damn birthday, it’s like a sick joke.
“We have to grieve, he is at peace now and we have to take comfort from that.
“He was the cutest little boy … he was loved … he had the best eyelashes. He was beautiful.
“He loved cars. Matchbox cars. He kept them in his hands the whole time, carried them everywhere, you wouldn’t see him without a car in his hand. We’ll have them with him, when he goes, when he’s laid to rest.”
Isaac’s brother “doesn’t quite understand”, he said.
The family has not been back to the house, which is still full of moving boxes.
“If you have a pool, maintain your fences … learn CPR … anything is better than doing nothing,” Stephen said.
“We did building inspections, that’s someone’s job, if there had been a fault [found] we would have fixed it. We just honestly didn’t know.”
Nine News Perth
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