Boy, 7, scared of water, entered pool over his head before drowning

​Wendy Curran remembers being stopped at a red light and listening to her car radio on a Wednesday morning four years ago.

She heard the announcer say a city pool would stay closed because a seven-year-old boy had drowned there the day before.

Her only thought at the time was that her son Jefferson, a temporary ward of the province, was also seven years old.

It wasn't until the following week, the 46-year-old mother discovered the boy who drowned was Jefferson.

By the time she got to the funeral home, Jefferson had already been cremated without her knowledge or permission, she said.

This week, Curran was one of the last witnesses to testify at a two-day fatality inquiry into Jefferson's death.

With a rueful smile, Curran described her son as "a really kind, generous, loving seven-year-old.

"He was happy."

Curran also revealed her son was scared of the water.

"If you talked about going swimming, he would get excited, but he had a fear of water," she said. "He always wanted a life jacket on. He would always hang onto the ladder and would never go away from the edge of the pool."

On July 31, 2012 Jefferson Curran and two other children were taken to the O'Leary Leisure Centre pool by a group-home worker. The adult caregiver left Curran to fend for himself while taking the youngest child to a wading pool.

"He entered the pool in water over his head," said inquiry lawyer Mona Duckett. "He was unsupervised and he was not noticed by patrons or guards during the period he drowned."

The entire incident was captured on a silent videotape played during the inquiry.

It shows the little boy's head bobbing up and down in the water.

'His arms don't flail'

His arms don't flail, and it doesn't appear he called for help. The video shows numerous people swimming right by him.

After several minutes, the boy's head stops bobbing and he begins to drift along the surface of the water.

Finally a 12-year-old told a lifeguard there was a boy in the water who wasn't moving.

Lifeguards and paramedics performed CPR, but the boy was not breathing when he was rushed to hospital.

Inquiry judge Renee Cochard observed Curran was in the water for about eight minutes.

"It seems like a long time," she said.

Cochard also expressed her sympathy to Jefferson's mother.

"From everything I've read and heard, Jefferson was a wonderful little boy who died much too young," she said.

"I know it's been hard. I know there's nothing I can say to make it better, but please accept my condolences and I wish you the best."

The judge said she'll prepare her report in the next few weeks.

The Fatality Inquiries Act requires a judge to make recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future, not to assign blame.

An official with the City of Edmonton told the inquiry numerous changes were made after Curran's death to improve safety and procedures.

janice.johnston@cbc.ca

@cbcjanjohnston