Elderly man pulled from senior community pool in Fort Lauderdale has died

By Teri Hornstein, Mauricio Maldonado

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    FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (WFOR) — An elderly man died after he was found in a Fort Lauderdale pool.

According to Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue, they got a call this morning around 8 a.m. about the man in the pool in a senior living community off of NE 19th Avenue and 6th Court.

The man was pulled from the water and paramedics tried life-saving measures to no avail.

Neighbors said the man was wheelchair-bound and used a lift to get in and out of the pool frequently.

“It’s terrible. It really is terrible. I use the pool every day,” said Lisa Lingardo.

“People should be more kind to their neighbors. More interested in them,” said Alan Bogatay.

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding his death.

This is the third drowning in a Fort Lauderdale pool in less than a month.

Monday evening, Ryan Amichette, 8, died after he was found in a backyard pool.

Amichette’s half-brother Gibson Severe said Ryan’s mom was working Monday afternoon and that a babysitter was supposed to pick him up from school.

“She was supposed to be the one to pick him up, but she said she saw him walking down the street and she turned around – she was calling him. I was like why she didn’t grab his hand or nothing like that,” said Severe.

Severe says the home with the pool is a few blocks from where he lives. He said they didn’t know the owner or how his brother got into the backyard.

Back in May, a four-year-old boy died after he was pulled from a backyard pool in the 1800 block of NW 15th Place.

According to Stop Drowning Now, drowning is fast and silent and can happen in as little as 20-60 seconds. Florida leads the nation in child drowning deaths. The Florida Department of Children and Families data shows that at least 97 kids drowned in the last year.

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