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Dry Drowning: Four-Year-Old Texas Boy Dies A Week After Swimming

By Peter D'Souza | Update Date: Jun 11, 2017 07:49 PM EDT

The final arrangements for a four-year-old boy to be laid to rest are being prepared after suffering an unexpected tragedy. The young boy died a week after swimming on a family vacation because of dry drowning.

What Actually Happened To Him?

The suspected cause of death is dry drowning. It is a rare case when a person's lungs become unable to extract oxygen from the air. Frankie Delgado, the boy's mother said, when he was playing in knee-deep water during Memorial Day, a wave from a distant ship knocked him over and his head went under.

After that, a family friend picked him up from the water and Frankie said, he was okay. But the drama began after one night, the Texas boy started to vomit and have diarrhea, CNN reported.

After that incident, Frankie's father Delgado and his wife had taken the boy to the doctor. The doctor said, nothing to be worried about it, it was just a stomach bug, so they decided to treat him at home.

The problems still continued and after one week he woke up from complaining of shoulder pain. Once again, during that time, he looked at his parents, rolled his eyes back and took a deep breath, FOX News reported.

However, the boy admitted to the hospital and doctors noticed that he took a breath but never exhaled. After a few days, he was rushed to the hospital and was pronounced dead.

Medical Reports

The doctor told his mother that they found fluid in Frankie's lungs and around his heart. They were unable to change the oxygen level from his blood and causing blood oxygen levels to drop and the heart to slow.

However, the main symptoms of dry drowning are shortness of breath, chest pain, lethargy, fever, and an unusual mood change etc. In addition, the vomiting that he experienced could have been caused by either irritation from the water or a bacterial infection.

According to the doctor, death from the dry drowning is incredibly rare. Dr. Juan Fitz, a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians told, the condition most commonly occurs in young children. Now, doctors hope that Frankie's story to help prevent other families from experiencing their pain.

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