FOREST PARK, Ohio (WXIX) – An autistic child died Sunday, more than a month after she was found in a retention pond in Forest Park, according to the Hamilton County coroner.
Coumba Baal, 5, died at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, where she was being treated for a drowning that occurred March 28 in the 600 block of Brunner Drive.
According to the Forest Park Police Department, officers were called to the address just after 5:30 p.m. for a drowning and later an unresponsive child.
When police arrived, they took over CPR from family members while waiting for the Forest Park Fire Department and medics.
Police said the child was not breathing, and water was coming from her mouth as officers did CPR.
Forest Park medics took over life-saving measures and transported the child to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
Police said Baal’s mother noticed the girl was not in the home and moments later found her in a retention pond behind the house.
The officers then spoke with the child’s uncle, who told them he found his mother’s cellphone, which Baal had been playing with, on a path between houses that led to the pond.
The uncle said he walked toward the pond where he found the girl in the water, face down, so he ran into the water and dragged the girl out of the pond.
Hospital staff found a heartbeat, and Baal was moved to the pediatric ICU, where she died more than a month later.
Baal’s death comes just days after EmPath for Autism met with Cincinnati Children’s and first responders to discuss safety awareness.
Leslie Williams is the board president of the organization that has also been pushing Ohio lawmakers for a policy that would require fences to be built around retention ponds.
This tragedy further proves why they’re needed, Williams says.
“It happens so quickly,” Williams explains. “They’re so fast and one thing that I want the public to know is that these are not bad parents that are out there being neglectful towards their children. They do care, but these children that are on the spectrum, when there’s a will, there’s a way and they’re going to find a way out and nine times out of 10, they do find themselves in a body of water.”
