1. **Patch (Newark, NJ)** – June 20, 2023
2. **PIX11** – June 21, 2023
3. **News12 New Jersey** – June 20, 2023
4. **Daily Voice Essex** – June 20, 2023
5. **RLSMedia** – June 30, 2023
Key facts:
– A 4-year-old girl from Newark fell into a lake at Branch Brook Park on Monday evening (June 19, 2023)
– She was at the 8th Avenue playground with her mother and other family members/neighbors
– Her mother noticed her missing, found her scooter near the roadway by the boathouse, then saw her unresponsive and submerged
– An Essex County Sheriff’s officer and the mother both jumped into the lake
– The mother actually jumped on the officer’s back because she was afraid he’d drown while carrying her daughter
– The officer performed CPR
– The child was taken to University Hospital
– Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura provided quotes describing the incident
– The child’s condition was reported as “promising” when officials announced it on Tuesday
A 4-year-old girl from Newark was rescued after her mother found her unresponsive and submerged in a lake at Branch Brook Park.
The mother realized the child was missing while she was playing with other children and neighbors at the park, and when she looked, “all of a sudden, as 4-year-olds sometimes will do, she just disappeared,” Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura said.
The mother immediately called police, and an Essex County Sheriff’s Officer arrived almost immediately, and “right away, he got on his radio and notified a unit that was nearby to come over and give him a hand,” Fontoura said.
As they were looking around, the mom spotted her daughter’s scooter just down the hill from the playground, and there was no sign of the toddler until she got to the lake.
The mother then saw her daughter was unresponsive and submerged in the lake.
The mother and officer sprang into action.
“She sees the child’s scooter, her little scooter. She has the scooter here by the water. She starts screaming. She sees the child in the water – she jumps in, the officer jumps in with her. The officer picks up the child. The woman jumps on his back because she was afraid he was going to drown so he carries the mother and the child out,” Fontoura described the harrowing moments.
The officer performed CPR on the child as an ambulance arrived.
The girl was transported to University Hospital.
The child’s condition was reported as promising, and she was to be assessed in another two to three days, police said.
Authorities announced the girl was in a “promising” condition after nearly drowning.
In the viral moment that unfolded at the 8th Avenue playground, the family had been spending time at the sprawling Essex County park.
The mother was at the park with her children when she noticed that her daughter, age 4, was missing, and after canvassing the area, she notified an Essex County sheriff’s officer who was nearby, who then notified central dispatch and called for EMS, before the mother saw the child’s scooter near the roadway adjacent to the lake by the boathouse.
The child was rushed to University Hospital in critical condition after the near-drowning incident at Branch Brook Park in Newark’s North Ward.
The Essex County Sheriff’s Office did not announce a follow-up condition update beyond the initial “promising” assessment reported by authorities on Tuesday.