Child saved from drowning at Vianden pool

At around 5:30pm on Friday 30 August, Liliana Costa, a friend of the Gomes family, was horrified to discover that little Jayden, who was in her care along with his older brother, was lying unresponsive in the middle of Vianden's public swimming pool, which had been closed for the past four years.

"I let the children play for a while," Costa recalled. She was checking her phone when her son's cries alerted her to Jayden's disappearance. At the time, Costa was relaxing on a deckchair on the other side of a fence that separated the grassy area from the pools.

© RTL

Her son and Jayden's older brother, Éric, were playing some distance away. "That's when I saw the lifeguards pulling Jayden out of the water. They were using a pole, and he was motionless," Costa said, visibly distressed, with Jayden’s mother in tears beside her.

Saved by his 12-year-old brother

In the frantic moments that followed, Costa rushed to the 1.30m-deep pool, but it was Éric, 12, who reached Jayden's "blue" body first. He remembers lifting his younger brother up, to help him grab onto the lifeguards' pole, but Jayden slipped from his grasp and fell back into the water. On his second attempt, Éric managed to pull him up again. "That's when I saw that his belly was swollen," Éric said quietly, still shaken by the near-tragedy.

Lifeguards quickly took over and called emergency services. The fire brigade arrived and resuscitated the boy before he was transported to Strassen hospital.

A family in shock 

Gathered in the living room of the family home in Vianden on Wednesday, the Gomes family remains in shock following the near-drowning incident. They have begun questioning the actions of the professionals involved. "They should have dived in and rescued my son immediately, instead of playing around with a pole," Jayden's mother lamented.

Although she herself cannot swim, the mother expressed that she would not have hesitated to jump into the water to save her child. She remains perplexed by the lifeguards' decision not to enter the pool themselves and wonders if their response would have been different with another child.

Since the incident, the mother has been unable to sleep, and Jayden is still showing signs of trauma. She shared that her son frequently clings to her since returning home after spending three days in the hospital. Jayden is still undergoing tests to ensure there are no lasting complications. "We won't stop here," the mother asserted, determined to prevent another child from suffering due to what she believes was "negligence."

The municipality of Vianden has yet to address the family's concerns. Speaking to RTL on Thursday, Mayor François Weyrich emphasised that the lifeguard performed his duties well. "He resuscitated the child, and he did his job very well," Weyrich said, adding that the lifeguard carried out first aid "very professionally" and was commended by members of the Grand Ducal Fire and Rescue Corps (CGDIS). According to Weyrich, the boy may not have survived without the lifeguard's intervention.

Weyrich acknowledged that the parents, who were not at the pool, feel that the lifeguard's response could have been faster. "We need to give the lifeguard a chance to explain his actions," the mayor said, noting that a meeting between the lifeguards and the parents is scheduled for next Tuesday at the town hall.