Following the awful death of six-year-old Belgian boy Vic Wanzeele in Azeitão ten days ago, the child’s parents have emerged from their grief to demand a “rigorous investigation” into how a pool open to holidaymakers could have been left to become a death-trap.
Ansie Van Aerschot and Michael Wanzeele have also revealed the heartbreaking events that led to their son’s death.
As one reader has commented, “it chills body and soul”.
This was not a case of a child jumping into a swimming pool unattended. Vic was under the supervision of three adults when his arm became trapped in the filter at the deepest end of the pool at the Arrábida Rural Retreat near Azeitão, explain his parents.
The minute the adults realised something was wrong, they leapt into the water to try and save him “but it was impossible to get him free”.
His mother explains: “We repeatedly tried (in the first attempts Vic was still alive and moving, and trying to free himself)... I went into panic because it was clear that we couldn’t get him free. But we kept trying. We called 112. Our call was transferred five times until we could speak to someone who spoke English.
We went to look for the electricity box to disconnect the filter, but we couldn’t find anything relating to it on the board. No one knew where we could find the pool’s installation”.
“I called BE@home - the company responsible for the Arrábida Country Retreat (Alojamento Local) which had been selected by our travel agent - and I shouted down the phone that my son was caught in the filter and was dying in the pool. They told me to keep calm and that someone would be coming immediately (they arrived at the same time as the fire service). No one said anything about the pool house where we could have disconnected (the filter)”.
The agonising letter explains that by the time firefighters arrived Vic was no longer moving.
The little boy had been underwater for 15-20 minutes before firefighters located the pool house (locked, and on the access road to the house) and managed to break down the door. They disconnected the filter system and only then managed to free Vic.
Resuscitation efforts “brought him back after 40-45 minutes” and the child was rushed to Lisbon’s Dona Estefânia children’s hospital where medical staff did everything they could to save him.
But now that the absolute worst cannot be reversed, the parents have pointed to the blame:
“The filter should have been covered”, their letter concludes: “Suction was so strong that (Vic) never had a chance… it is unbelievable that this could have happened when a simple lid could have avoided it… We are writing this letter to guarantee that there will be a rigorous investigation of this case and that measures will be taken to prevent this tragedy from happening with another family”.
Earlier this week, the Public Ministry announced that it had opened an investigation into how Vic came to die in such a terrible way (click here).
At the time, a lawyer talking to Diário de Notícias suggested the investigation “could be archived” but that he believed it “could be an important social alert for people”.
The account from Vic’s parents suggests there can be no reason to archive this investigation: according to the parents, the uncovered filter was an accident waiting to happen - and the fact that the family had no idea where the pool house was may well be considered an omission of care.
By natasha.donn@algarveresident.com
Article by kind permission of the Portugal Resident
