Lifeguard saves girl, 12, from drowning in pool
Cebu Daily NewsA lifeguard saved a 12-year-old girl from drowning in the swimming pool of the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC) yesterday.
Ruverlyn Codilla of barangay Day-as, Cebu City was rushed to the nearby St. Vincent’s Hospital past noon, a few minutes after swimmers of the Little Milo Olympics finished practicing at the pool.
Doctors later declared Ruverlyn in stable condition.
The little girl had accompanied her elder brother and his six friends for swimming practice at the CCSC when she suddenly jumped in.
Teenagers can use the pool for an hourly fee plus the P20 entrance fee of the center.
However, they would only be allowed to enter the swimming pool after a lifeguard would say it was okay for them to enter the water and start their practice, said Ricky Ballesteros, CCSC manager.
Ballesteros said the little girl perhaps didn’t know about this rule.
Ruverlyn jumped into the pool without permission from the lifeguard.
One of their companions, Sherwin Rosal, said Ruverlyn walked along the pool side going to the center and jumped into the deeper portion.
Her brother told her not to go in that area because it was deep. She just suddenly jumped in, Rosal said in Cebuano.
He said they let her be when they noticed her flapping her hands in the water, believing that she knew how to swim.
A lifeguard, however, noticed something was wrong and jumped in to save the little girl.
Her father, Jeffrey Tampus, rushed to the hospital after he was informed of the incident.
Tampus said his daughter didn’t ask his permission to go with her brother to the CCSC./Correspondent Chito O. ARagon
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