HARRIS COUNTY, TX (KTRK/CNN) – A Colorado father is thanking a family in Houston for a warning about a rare type of drowning known as dry drowning that saved his 2-year-old son’s life.
Staff Sgt. Garon Vega from Colorado noticed his son Gio, 2, got sick after inhaling a little water from a community pool.
First, the boy had a fever then a cough.
“I'm noticing his heart is beating really fast, so noticeably that I can feel it when he's laying against my body,” Vega said.
Vega says he saw a story online about a boy from Houston, 4-year-old Frankie Delgado, who recently died of a suspected dry drowning. The condition happens when a child inhales water and the fluid stays in the lungs for hours.
The Delgado family shared their experience, recalling Frankie’s symptoms, which included diarrhea and difficulty breathing, to warn other families.
Because of Frankie’s story, Vega took Gio to the emergency room, where he was told the 2-year-old was drowning.
"The X-rays did show he had a significant amount of water in his lungs, and it was a good thing that we brought him in because if we hadn't, he wouldn't have made it through the night,” Vega said.
Vega says he’s thankful to the Delgados for sharing their story. Without it, his son could have died too.
"I feel like I needed to reach out to the parents of Little Frankie and tell them… their little boy saved our little boy's life. There was a purpose,” Vega said.
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