My Florida Villa

Child rescued from North Fort Myers pool

NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla.- A boy sinks to the bottom of a crowded North Fort Myers pool and stays there for nearly five minutes while nobody above the water notices. A North Fort Myers man is being called a hero after he dove in and pulled the four-year-old to safety. 

To view the rescue of the boy, click here.

The incident happened Saturday afternoon at a pool in Lochmoor Villas. As our partners at the News-Press first reported, about a dozen people were swimming, completely oblivious, while a little boy lay lifeless at the bottom of the pool.

Leslie Snyder literally jumped into action after he saw four-year-old Chad Moreland lying at the bottom of the pool at his condo complex

"You could see the shape of a small little boy at the bottom," Snyder said. "I couldn't dive because of my neck, but I stepped off the pool and got him to the surface and started C.P.R." As the surveillance video shows, more than five minutes before little chad was playing on an innertube when he slipped out and started to drown.

The video is hard to watch, but you can see the boy splashing, trying to keep his head above water. Seconds later, he sinks to the bottom.

For four minutes and forty seconds Chad lay at the bottom of the pool.

Discover Florida #2 – Dream Vacation, the South Gulf Coast and a ...

Who wouldn’t love a relaxing Florida vacation? The Gulf beaches await you… powdery sands, azure skies and the green/blue waters. Ahh! Can’t you see yourself basking in the sun (slathered in sunscreen, to be sure.)

But after the beach, what then?

Do you really want to be in a motel? Don’t they all feel like jail cells after a bit? And if you’re in a beach side condo with all the sunbathers, kids and shell hunters walking by your window, you may as well be in a gold fish bowl. There’s always the big resort hotels for those who like to look down on paradise from a tenth story balcony.

There’s an alternative. Try a private rental. Spend your vacation in a real home, in a real community and live the Florida life the way Floridians do. I’ve found the perfect place.

Half-way down the Florida peninsula, on the Gulf coast, in between the cities of Sarasota and Fort Meyers, you find the Charlotte Harbor area – quiet, green and peaceful. Two large rivers flow into the harbor, to the north, the Myakka River and to the south the Peace River.

Just south of the Myakka, very close to Gasparilla Island and the wonderful destination of Boca Grande, in the luxurious development of South Gulf Cove, a villa awaits:

Alan is a professional landscape designer and the grounds around the villa reflect his skill. The first thing to catch my eye was the Bougainvillea vines trained to climb the columns of the front entrance portico. They were just coming into bloom, now that the summer heat has passed and the more temperate months have arrived, and I hoped I'd return to see them in their glory later.

The garden under the front window was a joy to behold to a gardener like myself. I was as enthralled with the plantings and design as I was with the interior (maybe more so, but then that's me.)

Time to come inside, and first to greet my eye was the living room, and a view of the pool just beyond the lanai; a sight so lovely, I forgot to look at anything else. In the late afternoon sun, all I could think was 'Oh nuts, I didn't bring my swimsuit!' but seeing as it was just my friend, Karelle and I, and as you've noticed from the satellite photo, there isn't another soul around... Yes, had a nice swim.

Once dried off, I  again snatched up my camera and set about the task I was there to do, take picture of Alan's Florida Villa. And it is a beautiful place.

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