Drowning Victim, 5, Was At Pool Celebrating Pre-K Graduation: GoFundMe

TINLEY PARK, IL — A 5-year-old girl who drowned at a Tinley Park water park Friday was there celebrating her graduation from a pre-kindergarten program, a family friend shared in an online fundraiser.

Megan Bagardo, mother of Hazel Gonzalez, 5, had treated the girl to lunch and a day at White Water Canyon Water Park, 8221 W 171st St. in Tinley Park, to mark the occasion, the friend wrote in the GoFundMe. The child would have next been headed to kindergarten.

The child was later pulled unresponsive from the pool after being underwater for an unknown period of time. Lifeguards and paramedics attempted to revive her, but were unsuccessful. She was taken to Silver Cross Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 5:12 p.m., according to the Will County Coroner's office. An autopsy was performed Saturday; the coroner has not yet released details.

The GoFundMe was started Saturday to offset the cost of funeral arrangements; it had raised $11,000 as of Sunday afternoon. Pictured on the fundraiser page is a smiling blond Hazel, in a bright yellow cap and graduation gown.

"Hazel will never be forgotten, she was so full of life ..." the family friend and GoFundMe organizer wrote. "She was a beautiful child, well advanced for her age."

The water park was closed Saturday following the incident. It reopened Sunday.

"The Tinley Park-Park District Board Commissioners and the entire Park District staff extend our heartfelt condolences to the family who lost their loved one yesterday," park district officials wrote on social media Saturday. "Our thoughts are with them at this difficult time."