Toddler who loved to swim drowns after falling into pool, Georgia coroner says
Natalia Felix’s family said the 2-year-old enjoyed “giving the best hugs and kisses.”
Like most toddlers, she loved playing on the slides and swings, chowing on mac and cheese and watching Paw Patrol, relatives said. But what she loved most was to swim.
Natalia, known to loved ones as “Nani,” died July 15 after she fell into a pool in Hephzibah, Georgia, the Richmond County Coroner’s Office announced Friday, July 21.
She was taken to Augusta University Medical Center where she died. Autopsy results are pending.
Additional information wasn’t released, and it’s unclear whose care she was in at the time of the accident.
“Nani was love,” her obituary reads. “Nani was sunshine. Nani is beautiful. Nani could feel other people’s feelings and always knew how to make you laugh and smile.”
It continues: “Her memories are held deeply in many hearts.”
Drownings in U.S.
An estimated 4,000 people die from drowning every year in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s also among the leading causes of death for children.
Certain factors can make drowning more likely, including not knowing how to swim, a lack of close supervision, not wearing a life jacket and drinking alcohol while recreating near or in water, the agency said.
Checking local weather conditions, never swimming alone and choosing the right equipment is recommended before heading into the water, according to the National Drowning Prevention Alliance.
“Don’t hesitate to get out of the water if something doesn’t feel right,” the group said on its website. “Whether it’s that the current is getting rough, rain has started to fall or your body is just not responding like you would like it to ... then just leave and return to the water another day.”
Hephzibah is about 150 miles east of Atlanta.
This story was originally published July 21, 2023 at 11:39 AM with the headline "Toddler who loved to swim drowns after falling into pool, Georgia coroner says."