Child in ‘stable condition’ after witnesses describe ‘horrifying’ near-drowning at Skokie water park

Sarah North recalled being at the Skokie Water Playground earlier this month, talking to her two kids about the importance of water safety, when she saw a man reach down into the pool and pull to the surface what appeared to be a limp child with blue skin. 

“I saw directly behind them a really big guy, like a really tall guy, reach down into the water in sort of a strange way and pull out a child who was like a rag doll,” North said. “It was completely, like, no tension in the body. I mean it was horrifying, completely horrifying.”

“And he looked shocked and I could tell it wasn’t his kid, you know, as a parent I could tell that it wasn’t his kid. It was like he found a body.”

Skokie Park District staff “responded” to the “aquatic incident” at the water park located at 4715 Oakton St. on Saturday, June 13, by initiating a water rescue, performing CPR and calling 911, among other critical steps, Jim Bottorff, the district’s director of communications told The Record via email. 

“Ultimately, the patron was transported from the facility by EMS conscious and breathing. Police reports note that the patron was in stable condition,” Bottorff wrote.

While the child who apparently nearly drowned was saved by those at the Skokie Water Playground, North and another woman who said they witnessed the incident described the harrowing moments when it was unclear to them whether the rescue efforts would be successful. 

According to their accounts, a patron in the pool was the first to notice and alert district staff to the child under the water. 

The Record asked the Skokie Park District for more information on how its staff were alerted to the “aquatic incident” and how the district may work to mitigate the risk of a future such incident, but Bottorff declined to provide further information. 

“Safety is the primary concern of the Skokie Park District, including in its aquatics operations,” Bottorff wrote in the park district’s statement. “(…) Out of respect for the privacy of all involved, the Skokie Park District will not be commenting further at this time.”

The first alarm

Malkie Zieff-Cohen, a local resident, recollected it was a sunny day and the water park was already crowded when she, her husband and their two kids arrived for their first excursion to the water park of the season intent on meeting up with their son’s classmate for a play date. 

Zieff-Cohen said she was near the shallow end of the water park’s main pool with their daughter and her husband was closer to the middle of the pool with their son sometime around 2 p.m. when she heard lifeguards continuously blowing whistles. 

Unlike North, Zieff-Cohen said she did not see the child be first pulled out of the water. But the man who pulled the child out of the water was Zieff-Cohen’s husband, Zieff-Cohen said. 

According to Zieff-Cohen, her husband later told her he was standing near a dividing line between the pool’s shallow and deep end when he saw someone under the water.

He did not realize anything was wrong and assumed it was likely a child playing under the water, Zief-Cohen said he recounted to her. But about a minute to a minute and half later, another woman in the pool apparently asked Zieff-Cohen’s husband if that child under the water was OK. 

When Zieff-Cohen’s husband looked again and saw the child was still underwater, he reached down, pulled them to the surface and signaled for a lifeguard, Zieff-Cohen said her husband recounted. 

‘I could feel the fear and the anxiety’

North’s account corroborated what Zieff-Cohen said of her husband’s experience. Both women recalled seeing park district staff pull the child out of the water and begin administering CPR.

North said she saw the child cough when the lifeguard pulled them out of the water. However, both North and Zieff-Cohen said the child appeared unconscious and they could not tell if the child was alive or not while compressions were taking place. 

At some point, a woman who appeared to be the child’s mother came to the scene, North and Zieff-Cohen said. North recalled the woman screaming and throwing her body on the child, who Zieff-Cohen said looked between the age of five and six.

“I was petrified, watching them working on her, doing CPR, doing the compressions over and over and over again. It didn’t look good at all for that child. And I could feel the fear and the anxiety. It was palpable, like, from everyone around, everyone was standing,” Zieff-Cohen said.

“They told everyone to get off of the sidewalk, and so everyone was gathered on the grass, just with nothing to do but watch this unfold,” Zieff-Cohen said, estimating that there were about 100 patrons at the water park. 

Eventually, EMS personnel arrived, transported the child from the scene and staff closed the park, North and Zieff-Cohen said. North estimated the whole incident lasted about 15-20 minutes, though felt much longer 

North said she considered going back to the Skokie Water Playground last weekend, but decided not to after feeling a “bit of a block” about the “terrifying experience.” Though she said she is sure her family will return to the water park again. 

Likewise, Zieff-Cohen said the incident was “traumatizing” for people who witnessed it — including her five-year-old son who asked her questions afterwards about drowning and dying — and it reaffirmed her commitment to keeping eyes on her kids in the water at all times. 

“It’s an experience I don’t think me or my husband or my son will ever forget,” Zieff-Cohen said.

“It’s (the Skokie Water Playground) been a place of a lot of fun memories for us for the past few years and it’s not gonna stop me from returning and taking my kids there, but yeah it does put a different set of thoughts in my head and make me want to be more vigilant and cautious.”

The Record is a nonprofit, nonpartisan community newsroom that relies on reader support to fuel its independent local journalism.

Become a member of The Record to fund responsible news coverage for your community.

Already a member? You can make a tax-deductible donation at any time.