Oakland

Boy Nearly Drowns on School Trip to Antioch Water Park

An 11-year-old boy was on a field trip with his class at the city of Antioch-owned water park when he ended face down at the bottom of a pool.

The boy, a student a Jack London Elementary School, was airlifted from the Antioch Water Park to Children's Hospital Oakland Tuesday morning, according to fire officials. He was conscious and breathing as he was taken away in the helicopter.

Authorities received a call at 11:22 a.m. stating that the boy was receiving CPR, fire officials said. He was transported to UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland.

"The child needed to be revived, so our lifeguards provided immediate on deck emergency response," said Nancy Kaiser, the Antioch Parks and Recreation director.

The water park is normally closed weekdays until next week but it opened Tuesday for the field trip for kids from the elementary school and two other schools.

Kaiser said the facility has trained lifeguards that were ready for rescue, but it wasn't immediately clear how the child ended up in the bottom of the pool, which worries parents.

"My son does not go on field trips without me. Especially when it comes to water, pools, anything. Real tricky. Real tricky," said parent Luna Miller-Parker.

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