Twin Toddlers Drown in Their Backyard

Oklahoma tragedy leaves 18-month-olds dead
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 19, 2023 6:15 AM CDT
Twin Toddlers Drown in Their Backyard
Stock photo.   (Getty Images / MattGush)

Firefighters responded to an unimaginable scene Thursday morning at an Oklahoma City home: A mother had pulled her 18-month-old twins, a boy and a girl, out of the family's backyard swimming pool and was performing CPR on them. They were rushed to a nearby hospital but did not survive, Fox 59 reports. "They brought out two little children and put them in separate ambulances. And they were doing CPR on both little children," says a neighbor who saw first responders at the scene. "I saw the mother who was distraught."

Two parents had lived at the address with their six children for about a year, and the mother's grandmother, who has Alzheimer's, also lives there, the Mirror reports. She reportedly left the back door open, which is how the twins got outside. "Anything can happen in an instant," the injury prevention coordinator for trauma at OU Health tells Fox OKC. "Children are attracted to water, and toddlers won't have the skills to be able to help themselves get out of water." A GoFundMe campaign has been launched for the family. "These beautiful babies were taken from us too soon," it says. "Anything you can give to help with expenses would be greatly appreciated." (More Oklahoma stories.)

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