‘He was a sweetheart’: Wichita first-grader dies after drowning at hotel pool
A 7-year-old boy has died nearly a week after drowning in a pool at an east Wichita hotel.
Zaniriusz Chambers Jr. died Wednesday, his mother Lauren Wilson told The Eagle in a phone call.
Police were called to the Red Roof hotel in the 7300 block of East Kellogg for a “public accident” at 9:24 p.m. May 1. Sedgwick County EMS arrived and took the boy to the hospital, a police media report shows. He remained there until he died.
Wilson said her son drowned in the hotel pool. Police said the boy was in the care of family members. They are investigating the incident and would not release more details.
“When they pulled him out they said he was in the pool for a long time. He lost too much oxygen to his brain,” Wilson said. “They did CPR for 45 minutes.”
Wilson added that her son had to be revived twice. At the hospital, doctors said he had brain swelling from a lack of oxygen and had to be put on life support to help him breath.
“The swelling of his brain was so severe that there was no way to bring him back.”
Wilson said her son was supposed to be cared for at the home of a family member while she worked a double shift at her job. She said her son was not supposed to be at the hotel pool.
She said a close friend picked her son up from the family member’s house without her knowledge.
“I’m just hurt and I want answers,” Wilson said. “I have a lot of emotion built up.”
Sweetheart, bright kid
Zanirius Jr. was in the first grade at Caldwell Elementary School. He excelled in school and his favorite subject was math, his father, Zanirius Chambers Sr., said.
“He was sweetheart, man,” Chambers said. “He was a very smart, bright kid.”
Chambers added: “He liked electronics ... he was kind of a nerd,” Chambers said. “He was versatile with his intelligence.”
He also liked to dance. His favorite foods were pizza and chicken.
Wilson said her son wanted to become a boxer when he grew up, partly because his stepfather was a boxer.
A GoFundMe has been created to pay for hospital bills not covered by insurance and to support his family.