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Like countless parents, Kati Smythe says she can’t imagine what a Medicine Hat, Alta., family is going through after the death of an 11-year-old boy on a swimming field trip this week.
But, she can’t help thinking about it.
Or wanting to reach out and do something, anything.
“It’s devastating, obviously — as a parent, I can’t imagine getting that phone call,” she told CBC News outside a bakery in the southern Alberta city on Wednesday.
She had just picked up her kids from school, but was too late to take part in doughnut sales that were set aside for the affected family.
More than $11,000 was raised by 11 a.m. by McBride’s Bakery, so Smythe donated cash in a coffee can set by the register and picked up a few other treats for her family.
“You just think about how deep a loss that is,” she said, her eyes welling with tears.
“I was driving around noticing people are still out biking and getting groceries … that family still has to do those things, but come home to an empty room.”
Adding to her unease, Smythe’s daughter was scheduled to go to Echo Dale lake on Friday for a field trip — one among dozens of school trips planned to beat the heat as the school year winds to a close next week.
School divisions are rescheduling field trips and finding other venues.
The lake is closed and will be drained after the elementary school student was rushed to hospital on Monday.
He was pronounced dead of a suspected drowning, said police, who are not releasing any more details.
Schools change plans, offer counselling
The boy attended an unnamed school in the Medicine Hat Public School Division, which said early this week that many students, teachers and volunteers were present at the city-operated swim lake that had lifeguards on duty at the time.
Acting superintendent Cody Edwards told CBC News that the death of a student is an “unimaginable tragedy that no family should experience” and it is also hitting the school community hard.
“It’s been difficult for families, and we do want to note the support from the community — people want to help,” he said.
Resource workers and counsellors are being made available, and the division is making information on discussing trauma and grief available to all parents with children.
An internal review of school trip logistics and safety is underway, Edwards said, but with students set to leave on summer vacation next week, they may need to consider extending supports.
“From now until the end of the school year we’re hoping for operations to be as close to normal as possible,” he said.
Pools reopening, lake will be drained
The city closed swimming facilities for a day after the accident, stating that time was needed for all lifeguard staff to process the incident.
Two large indoor pools and two outdoor community pools were reopened on Wednesday.
Alex Kwan with the Calgary Fire Department said they respond to an average of 50 water-related calls every July, but that could more than double this year, depending on the weather.
The Medicine Hat Police Service is conducting an investigation, though they say the death is not suspicious.
The city’s recreation department is reviewing the incident and its procedures, but officials say that with lifeguards taking time off after the accident there is “not staffing available at this time to safely supervise the [swim lake].”
Echo Dale lake a popular destination on hot, dry prairie
Mayor Linnsie Clark told a press conference this week that Echo Dale and other swimming pools are important to Hatters, but a temporary closure was appropriate.
“We are taking a pause and allowing our staff an opportunity to come together, so that we can provide them the supports that they need,” she said.
Echo Dale is promoted as an oasis in the prairie city of 69,000, located 300 kilometres southeast of Calgary, where temperatures in the summer often top 30 C.
Known for its shade, swimming lake, and a smaller lake for paddling that is stocked with trout, the community was shocked in 2022 when wind storms knocked down 80 large poplars in the park.
Since then, replanting and replenishing the shade cover has been a priority at the 60-hectare river valley park that also features off-leash dog trails, group camping, and a demonstration farm with animals and heritage buildings.
Those attractions are set to reopen on Friday, but the lake will remain closed until further notice, officials said.
