TEXAS CITY, Texas – A 4-year-old boy died hours after he went swimming from a rare danger known as dry or secondary drowning.
Francisco Delgado III complained of an upset stomach after going swimming last week, but his parents did not believe the condition to be too serious.
Recommended Videos
Saturday morning, Delgado said his shoulders were hurting.
"Out of nowhere, he just woke up. He said ahhh," Delgado's father, Francisco Delgado Jr. told KTRK. "He took his last breath and I didn't know what to do no more."
The boy later died at the hospital from the condition known as dry drowning.
"His lungs were full of fluid. There was nothing else they could do for him." Tara Delgado, Francisco's mother, said.
Dry or secondary drowning occurs when someone breathes water into his or her lungs. It occurs more prominently in children, but can also happen with adults.
In dry drowning cases, the water causes vocal chords to spasm and close, shutting off the airway and making it hard to breathe.
With secondary drowning, the airways open and let water into the lungs, causing pulmonary edema, which is when fluid builds up and makes it difficult to breathe.
Symptoms of secondary drowning may not show for up to 24 hours after a patient has gone swimming.
The symptoms of both dry and secondary drowning include coughing, chest pain, trouble breathing and feeling tired.