6-year-old nearly drowned during soccer camp at UDC pool, police say

A child was saved after nearly drowning in a campus pool at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) on Monday.

DC Police were called to the UDC pool just before 1 p.m., where they found an unconscious child. When officers arrived, police said the boy was breathing but not responsive. 

According to a UDC police report, the 6-year-old was found at the bottom of the Van Ness Campus swimming pool. By the time campus police arrived, DC Police and EMS teams were already helping the child. Before leaving the pool, the boy started to respond. EMS brought the boy to Washington Children's Hospital.

A witness told UDC officers that they had tried to get the child out of the pool but couldn't lift them. Another witness then helped get the child out of the water and began giving CPR until first responders arrived. 

"We were deeply saddened to learn that a participant in the Nike Soccer Camp with Foursoccer, which uses the UDC athletic complex, was injured on Monday, July 20," UDC's Office of Marketing and Communications said in a statement. "The last update UDC received was that the camper was at the hospital for observation. Our thoughts are with him and his family, and we wish him a full and speedy recovery." 

The child had been on campus to attend the Nike Soccer Summer Camp that was happening on the soccer field next to Building 47, where the pool is located. 

The child went to the hospital with one of his camp coaches. 

According to UDC's police report, no lifeguard was on duty when the child nearly drowned, and approximately 30 children were in the swimming pool. The UDC lifeguard manager told a campus police sergeant that he had left the facility for lunch and returned to see the child's coach pulling the 6-year-old from the water. 

The lifeguard manager explained in the police report that children attending the Nike Soccer Summer Camp had been allowed to get into the swimming pool at the end of each day. 

WUSA9 has reached out to both the camp and the lifeguard manager, but at the time of publication had not received comment.