Location: Lake Kaweah

Incident Date: 5/27/18

Incident Time: 1825 hours

Case Number: 18-07074

Victim: V. Damian Ellis, 5, of Visalia

City: Lake Kaweah

Posted by: Media Relations

Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a near drowning of a 5-year-old boy on Sunday, May 27, 2018, at Lake Kaweah. On Monday, he passed away at Valley Children’s Hospital as a result of the drowning accident.

He was on a house boat with his family. It was anchored near the shore at Greasy Cove. 

At 6:25 p.m., a 911 call was made reporting the near drowning. 

While the boy had been wearing a life jacket, he had taken it off while he watched a movie because he was cold. A commotion was heard from an 8-year-old brother who was trying to get the 5-year-old out of the water after he fell off the rear of the boat. 

Others got the victim to shore and started CPR, including a nurse and a respiratory nurse who were nearby. A wife of one of the nurses drove her boat to find the Sheriff’s Deputies assigned to Lake Kaweah who were en route, responding to the 911 call. 

The Deputies responded by boat and transported the boy to the Marina where an ambulance met them. CPR was ongoing as the boy was handed off to EMS.

The victim was taken by ambulance to Kaweah Delta Medical Center for evaluation and then flown to Valley Children’s Hospital for treatment. On Monday, he died.

The victim is identified as V. Damian Ellis, 5, of Visalia.

The Sheriff’s Office would like to remind everyone that children under the age of 13 must wear life jackets while on a boat or personal watercraft in motion on the water.