A Louisiana boy who nearly drowned in a motel swimming pool in Greenwood is still alive but in serious condition in a Jackson hospital, according to his uncle.
Gabriel Hunter, 11, of De Quincy, La., and two 9-year-old boys in town for a church revival were playing around the the pool at the Travel Inn last Thursday afternoon, when he fell in. Police say Gabriel was underwater for more than five minutes before a hotel guest, 13-year-old Brandon Tademy of Lake Charles, La., pulled him out.
The father of one of Gabriel's companions performed CPR until paramedics arrived, according to Sgt. Lee Taylor.
Gabriel's uncle, Ronnie Hunter, was not sure of the boy's condition but said the parents told him Gabriel was alive.
"The last I heard, they said he wasn't doing too good," Hunter said from his De Quincy home this morning. "He was swollen up, but they're still down there with him."
None of the three boys who were at the scene of the accident were staying at the Travel Inn. Gabriel and his family were registered at the Golden Coach Inn, which does not have a pool. The motel's manager, Richard Patel, said they were not allowed inside the pool gate.
"They just jumped the fence and sneaked inside without permission," said Patel. "We never found out until the other children ran inside and said somebody had drowned."
