FLORIDA NEWS, June 16,
1999
Stuck on hot tub drain, boy is bruised
The 6-year-old is in good
condition after his belly was stuck for two minutes to the drain of his
family's hot tub.
FORT LAUDERDALE
— A
6- year-old was’
seriously injured when is belly was sucked against the drain in his
family's hot tub, firefighters said.
Jeremy Belotto was in good condition Tuesday in the children's
intensive care unit at Broward General Medical Center where he was
airlifted Monday, said Donna Harris, spokes-woman for the hospital.
"He just has a big suction mark that's covering most of his
stomach and chest," Harris said..
Jeremy was trapped for two minutes when his belly became stuck to
the drain at the bottom of the hot tub because of the suction.
The boy had severe bruising to his abdomen. Jeremy's brother
noticed he had not surfaced and yelled for help.
His mother shut off the power to the hot tub, pulled her son out
and administered CPR, firefighters said.
The boy's father, Joseph Belotto, was one of the five city workers
shot and killed in 1996 by a former co-worker, reported WSVN-TV Ch.7.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is aware of at least
seven cases of body entrapment that resulted in deaths from 1990 to
1996. The deaths were a result of drowning after a body or limb was
held against the drain by the suction of the circulation pump, a U.S.
Consumer product report study says.
Nation Datelines, Wednesday, June 23, 1999
ALEXANDRIA, IND.
