Autopsy: Girl’s Pool Death a Drowning

By Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune

Mar. 27–An autopsy today determined a 13-year-old Park Ridge girl who was pulled from a community swimming pool Monday night had drowned, and her death was ruled an accident.

The incident occurred about 8:40 p.m. at the Park Ridge Community Center, 1515 W. Touhy Ave., said Renie Schreiber, a spokeswoman for the northwest suburb’s park district.

The girl, Lauren Bruechel, of the 700 block of Vine Avenue, was in a lap area of the center’s 25-yard-long pool when she became unresponsive.

Numerous witnesses saw the girl in trouble, and lifeguards went into the water to help her, Schreiber said. Fire department paramedics took the girl to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where she was pronounced dead about an hour later.

Schreiber said the girl may have had a pre-existing heart condition, but an autopsy today determined that the condition did not contribute to her death, according to a Cook County medical examiner’s office spokesman.

The cause of death was determined to be drowning and the manner accidental, the spokesman said.

Lauren was with several other children her age at the time of the incident, Schreiber said.

jmeisner@tribune.com

—–

Copyright (c) 2007, Chicago Tribune

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.