Boy back in Minot following incident at pool; Park District expands lifeguard presence

MINOT, N.D. (KMOT) – UPDATE (6/9/2023): A six-year-old boy who had to be hospitalized following an incident this week at the Roosevelt Park Pool in Minot is back home and recovering, and said to be doing well.

The boy, identified by his family as Jameson Edwards, was unresponsive following the incident Wednesday afternoon.

Life-saving measures were administered on-scene before he was rushed to Trinity Hospital, and later air-lifted to Fargo for further treatment.

Jameson’s family thanked all involved who provided quick treatment to avoid serious injury.

The incident remains under investigation by Minot Police.

Elly DesLauriers, Executive Director for Minot Parks, told Your News Leader the pool reopened Friday.

DesLauriers said the pool typically has seven lifeguards on deck at the Roosevelt Park Pool at any given moment, but they are now adding an eighth roaming lifeguard to that location.

The pool’s hours are:

Mon-Thur: 12-5 p.m., 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Fri – Sun: 1-8 p.m.

UPDATE (6/8/2023 at 11:30 a.m.): A six-year-old boy who had to be airlifted to Fargo following an incident at a pool in Minot Wednesday is ‘doing well’ and may soon return home, according to his family.

The boy was rushed to the hospital in Minot, and then transported to Fargo for further treatment.

The boy’s family told Your News Leader he does not appear to have any brain damage and could return home as early as Friday.

The family declined to interview at this point but wanted to thank those who happened to be at the pool at the time of the incident, as well as Trinity’s first responders, for their quick actions that prevented serious damage.

Minot Parks shared on Facebook that the pool will remain closed Thursday, June 8.

Minot Police Captain Dale Plessas said Wednesday that the incident is under investigation.

ORIGINAL STORY (6/7/2023 at 9:40 p.m.): A child is being airlifted to a hospital in Fargo following an incident Wednesday at the Roosevelt Park Pool in Minot.

According to Capt. Dale Plessas with the Minot Police Department, they received a report of an unresponsive six-year-old boy at the pool.

Plessas said a nurse practitioner on scene began performing CPR, and when Minot Fire arrived, they took over life-saving measures.

The boy’s family told Your News Leader that as of 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, he is in stable condition and was being airlifted to Fargo.

Plessas said the incident remains under investigation.

Elly DesLauriers, the executive director for Minot Parks, provided the following statement to Your News Leader:

“An incident occurred at the Roosevelt Park Pool late [Wednesday] afternoon. A child was removed from the main pool and lifeguards performed life-saving actions along with emergency responders. The child was then taken away by ambulance to Trinity Hospital. Safety of our patrons is of our utmost priority. Our thoughts are with the patron and their family along with all involved.”

The park district closed the pool for Wednesday evening’s session in light of the incident. DesLauriers told Your News Leader they would determine Thursday morning whether to open for the day.

Your News Leader will update this story as we learn more.