Boy critical after being pulled from Clay County pond

Sheriff's Office investigating near-drowning at apartment complex

ORANGE PARK, Fla. – A boy was pulled from a pond at the Cypress Pointe Apartments on Knight Boxx Road, off Blanding Boulevard, in Orange Park early Thursday evening, the Clay County Sheriff's Office said.

At last check, the child was listed in critical condition and was actively being treated. 

When News4Jax arrived at the scene, the boy, whose age was not released, had just been taken to a hospital and deputies were beginning to tape off the area to conduct their investigation.

A resident, who asked not to be identified because he’s in law enforcement training, said he witnessed what happened just minutes after the child was pulled from the pond, which is located at the back of the apartment complex.  

“The Clay County Sheriff’s Office was out here first. I saw two deputies run over and try CPR. The child was unresponsive. The rest of them came out. They continued to try and do CPR," he said. "Then, EMS came out and they were doing CPR for five to seven minutes.”

He said the boy was still unresponsive when he was loaded into an ambulance.

“When the ambulance left here with the child, they weren’t running the siren. They were just leaving the neighborhood, so that’s usually not a good sign," the resident said. "When it’s a child, it never makes it easy, especially having to see the parent right there on scene and seeing how they were reacting to it.”

It's unclear how long the child had been in the pond until someone found him.

“There’s no fences around the pond," said resident Olivia Parker, who is a parent of a toddler. "I can't imagine. It's your worst fear as a mom."

The Sheriff's Office continues to investigate the near-drowning.


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