9-month-old baby drowns in a bucket of water in Cebu City

The wake of the 9-month-old baby who drowned in a bucket of water on Wednesday, June 28, 2023. | Emmariel Ares and Niña Mae Oliverio

CEBU CITY, Philippines — A nine-month-old baby boy drowned in a bucket of water inside his home while his parents were asleep on Wednesday morning, June 28, 2023.

The incident happened at around 9 a.m. in Sitio Lawis, Barangay Lorega-San Miguel, Cebu City.

9-month-old baby found inside bucket

The infant’s mother told CDN Digital that it was her mother who woke up and discovered that one of their twins was submerged in the water inside a bucket they use to store water for washing dishes.

She narrated that she did not notice that the infant had woken up when she fell asleep between 7 to 8 a.m. after feeding him a bottle of milk and tending to the infant’s twin brother.

Around that time, she said that everyone in the house was still asleep, including her live-in partner who was working the day before.

Supposed to attend a wedding

On that day, the couple was supposed to attend a friend’s wedding together with their twins.

After preparing the clothes they were going to wear to the event and caring for the babies who went back to sleep early in the morning, she said that she fell asleep.

It was almost 9 a.m. when her mother woke up and noticed that one of the twins was missing.

She said that her mother was asking where the missing baby was. The latter then saw the infant already inside the bucket that was placed a few steps away from where they were sleeping, she said in between sobs.

Shout from grandma

“Among nadunggan, ‘Hala ang bata!’ Mao to kami namangon mi tanan naa sa balay kay among nadunggan ang pagsyagit naman sa akong mama,” she told CDN Digital.

(We heard a shout, ‘The baby!’ That is why all those in the house woke up because we heard the shout of my mom.)

She said the bucket was almost full at the time as they were going to use it to wash their dishes.

The baby, according to her, was submerged in the water and was no longer breathing.

CPR on baby

She added that she, along with her other relatives, conducted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the baby as he was already very pale and unmoving.

However he did not respond, so they immediately called an ambulance and rushed him to the hospital.

Some neighbors of the couple said that they heard the commotion early in the morning and saw the child being carried out of their house with the parents in a panic.

Rushed to hospital

The 9-month-old baby was rushed to the Cebu City Medical Center but despite the efforts of the doctor who tended to him, the child remained unresponsive.

“Pag adto sa ospital, wala naman gyud ang bata. Di nagyud mada. Naghatag sila og injection para sa heart para mo pitik pa. Paghuman og inject tanan, niingon ang doctor nga, ‘Maam, 15 minutes na ang nilabay, wala najud siyay response. Amo na lang ni ipahuway imong bata kay wala najud siyay response,” she stated.

In a state of shock, she said that they had no other choice but to accept that they have already lost their son.

The mother recalled that on the morning the tragedy happened, they were in good spirits while preparing to attend a wedding.

“Wa mi kabantay nimata siya’g kalit. Before ko natug, nagbantay pako niya. Wa gyud ko kahibaw gyud nga nimata siya nga nikamang siya didto sa balde. Kay kana siya, nine months nana siya. Mo kamang siya’g paspas. Kung unsa’y makuptan niya, makabarog na siya,” she told CDN Digital.

She said that what happened was an accident and they believe that the curious child was trying to play with the water when he fell inside the bucket.

She added that she saw a small cut on the child’s belly which she suspects was caused when he fell in.

The child’s wake is held at a chapel in Sitio Kamagong, Barangay Lahug which is where the father hails from.

According to the mother, they have opted not to have the wake in their place of residence because of the upcoming fiesta in their sitio next month.

She added that the funeral will be held on Sunday, July 2, 2023.

The father of the child also said that they will not be contacting the police for further investigation because they believe that what happened was an accident.

Second loss

The mother revealed that this was their second time losing a child.

Their firstborn, who was also a boy, died almost three months after he was born in January 2020 due to an inborn illness called Myelomeningocele, which affects the backbone and spinal cord, the twins’ mother said.

After losing two children in a short period of time, the mother said that they will now be taking extra precautions in caring for their remaining child.

She added that while they mourn for the loss of their second child, they will be paying more attention to his younger twin so that situations like this will not happen again.    /rcg

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