Spl child (14) in pool for water therapy dies

Mumbai: A 14-year-old boy with special needs died in a hospital after being pulled out of the swimming pool of a Goregaon school where he was taking lessons on Friday.
While the autopsy will determine the cause of death, the boy’s parents said two hospitals had refused him admission despite his critical condition.
Shardul Arolkar, a Class 9 student at Yashodham High School, was taking swimming lessons at Gokuldham High School in the vicinity for the past six months. Sources said water therapy was offered to students with special needs and Shardul was a keen swimmer.
4 swimming instructors at pool where boy died
Four instructors, including a US-certified trainer, had been appointed to coach students with special needs separately at Gokuldham High School, where 14-year-old Shardul Arolkar was taking swimming lessons and died after being pulled out of the pool.
Between 12.30pm and 2.30pm on Friday, Shardul was swimming along with four other children with special needs. Police said he swam for half an hour. "One of the instructors noticed him slowing down and went towards him for a closer look. As the boy appeared tired, the instructor went in and brought him out of the water. He was given CPR following which he threw up," said a police officer.
Shardul's mother was present by the pool when the incident occurred. As he had lost consciousness, he was rushed to a hospital close to the school. "But he was denied admission to that hospital as well as another local hospital," said his father, Sanjay, who works at the city civil and sessions court at Dindoshi. "I was at work when my wife informed me over the phone that she was rushing Shardul to a third hospital-Lifeline Hospital at Goregaon. When I reached there, nurses were trying to revive him. Later, doctors examined him and advised us to take him to a public hospital. We brought him to the Babasaheb Ambedkar Hospital in Kandivli where he was pronounced dead," Sanjay said.
TOI reached out to the school but it did not comment. "A special child needs extra attention and care," said Sanjay, alleging no one from the school management had paid the family a visit since the incident.
This is the first such case reported at the school. Dindoshi police said they have recorded an accidental death case and will probe further. Till late on Friday, the autopsy was on at a centre in the suburbs.