Two investigations ongoing in near-drowning incident

Few details have emerged about the near-drowning of a 3-year-old boy that occurred Monday afternoon. 

At roughly 3:45 p.m., a young child was found underwater in the pool area of Otter Creek Water Park on West Darby Road. The child, later identified as Janas Ponders, was found by a man in the crowded pool and taken to a lifeguard, who performed CPR on the boy. 

Ponders, who was not wearing a flotation device, was rushed to Greenville Memorial Hospital, according to Greenville Rec Community Relations Director Mike Teachey. 

Sgt. Matthew Armstrong of the Greenville County Sheriff's Office confirmed that the agency was still conducting an investigation into the matter. 

Teachey said another group also is interested in how Ponders nearly lost his life. 

"There are actually two investigations going on right now," Teachey said. "The Sheriff's Office is doing one, just as part of procedure. DSS is also doing an investigation per procedure since the incident occurred in a child care situation." 

Ponders was swimming in the care of the YMCA, as he was a participant with the YMCA Judson Community Center's day camp. 

Patti Suddeth, director of human resources for the Greenville YMCA, issued a press release on the matter. 

"The child is a part of the center’s preschool daycare program, and was participating in a field trip with the group to the Otter Creek Water Park," the statement reads. "GCRD lifeguards at the pool and EMS officials responded. It is our understanding that the child is in serious but stable condition at this point. Our staff is supporting the family through this difficult situation and will pray that his condition continues to improve."

Ponders remains in serious but stable condition as of Tuesday afternoon. 

Teachey said Tuesday that the Greenville County Recreation District was restricting access to the lifeguards who responded until the conclusion of the pending investigations.