5-year-old girl drowns at water park in Tinley Park
TINLEY PARK, Ill. (CBS) – A family was grieving Friday night after a 5-year-old girl drowned at a water park in southwest suburban Tinley Park.
A family friend has identified the 5-year-old as Hazel Gonzalez.
As CBS 2's Jermont Terry reported, Tinley Park Fire Chief Steve Klotz confirmed to CBS 2 that local park district employees at the White Water Canyon Water Park pulled the child from the pool. The water park is operated by the Tinley Park Park District.
We are told the girl came to the water park with at least three adults – but somehow, she went underwater before the lifeguards tried to save her.
The five-acre water park closed early on Friday after the girl's splash in the pool took a horrible turn.
A father named Antonio said he brings his young son to White Water Canyon Water Park "whenever the weather is good."
He had just left the park for a break - when he returned to find police out front preventing him from going back inside, due to a child found unresponsive.
"It always looks busy, but they always have a lot of lifeguards – and it looks like they're always attentive," said Antonio.
We are told by the time the fire department arrived, lifeguards were attempting to revive the girl through CPR – and the use of an automated external defibrillator. When paramedics arrived just before 4 p.m., they took over and rushed the girl to Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, where she died.
The park district has told neither CBS 2 nor the fire department how long the child was underwater before anyone noticed her. But the drowning leaves Antonio and so many parents with questions.
"How? How, right?" he said. "I don't know."
The Tinley Park Park District also has not said how many lifeguards were on duty at the time – or who first spotted the girl in distress. But Antonio left the water park thankful he didn't witness the efforts to save the child – thinking only of her loved ones.
"Of course, the prayers go out the family," he said. "It's a sad situation for any parent out there. God bless them."
The Tinley Park Park District was closed Saturday out of respect, and the ongoing investigation.
The water park has since said, in a post to social media, they will reopen on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. for members and 12:00 p.m. for the public.
White Water Canyon Water Park will be open on July 2, 2023 at 11:30am for members and 12:00pm for the public. Please check the Rainout Line on our website for any updates.
Posted by White Water Canyon Water Park on Saturday, July 1, 2023