Girl in critical condition after drowning at Murray's Willow Pond Park

MURRAY — A girl is in critical condition after she was pulled from the water Thursday afternoon at Willow Pond Park in Murray following a drowning incident that prompted an urgent search by firefighters, police officers and bystanders.

The Murray Fire Department and Murray police were dispatched to the park around 3:05 p.m. after receiving reports that two girls, both around 10 years old, had fallen into the pond.

Fire Chief Joseph Mittelman said the girls were at the park with their father when they entered what appeared to be a shallow area of the pond.

"They were just playing in the shallow area, and unfortunately the shallow area, even though the ponds are really low right now, they tend to go back and then they go deeper," Mittelman said.

By the time first responders arrived, one of the girls had already been pulled from the water by bystanders. Firefighters and police immediately began searching for the second child.

"We go in, and we just start doing hasty searches," Mittelman said.

As the search continued, firefighters realized time was running out.

"Today we had to go around policy just a little bit, and we had a couple of swimmers just take off their life jackets and start swimming the bottom of the pond, and that's where we located our second patient," Mittelman said.

The girl was found about 12 feet from shore and approximately 7 feet below the surface near the middle of the pond. Mittelman said the water was extremely murky, making the search especially difficult.

"It was really murky water, and so just by great blessings and happenstance our firefighters were able to locate that patient," he said.

Firefighters believe the girl had been underwater for at least 10 minutes before she was found. Emergency crews performed lifesaving measures at the scene before she was taken to a local hospital in critical condition.

"Our hearts and prayers go out to the family, especially the dad and sister that were there," Mittelman said. "We pray for them right now."

The fire chief urged families to remain vigilant around any body of water, warning that ponds can become deep suddenly and even calm-looking water can present hidden dangers, particularly for children.

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