The tragedy of the drowning of a 6-year-old boy in Gialova, Messinia, has also brought to light the superhuman effort his 32-year-old mother made to raise him. She always kept him by her side at work, as she had no one to leave him with. While she was working on the upper floor of the two-story home with a pool, the little boy — based on reporting by Star and footage from security cameras — was walking along the edge of the pool, driven by the natural curiosity of a child. He lost his balance and fell in, and in the brief moments that followed, the unthinkable happened. The woman went to look for him shortly after and found him unconscious in the pool. She pulled him out and called for help. According to the report, EKAB paramedics and two doctors from the Pylos Health Center arrived at the scene immediately. They found that the boy had no pulse and began CPR. In a desperate effort to save his life, he was rushed to the Health Center, where doctors and nurses fought for over an hour to keep him alive. Despite their collective efforts, they were unable to save him. The exact circumstances of the tragedy are being investigated by the relevant authorities, and a post-mortem examination has been ordered.
Read also: Messinia: How the tragedy unfolded — the 6-year-old who drowned in the pool where his mother worked, as the 32-year-old mother remains in shock
Messinia: “His mother was always running to give him a better life”
The central figure of the Messinia tragedy is the 32-year-old mother, whose tireless efforts to raise her child are unanimously acknowledged by those who knew her. The woman was in a state of profound shock and, after giving her statement to the prosecutor, she was released, while the preliminary investigation into the case continues.
A local resident spoke about the boy and his mother: “He was a lively little kid. His mother was a hard worker. She worked to make ends meet — she held down two jobs.” Another villager said: “We’ve been crying since morning. The whole village is in tears. We saw that little boy every day, and his mother was always running to give him a better life.” Her employer also praised the 32-year-old: “She was a fighter. She loved that little boy so much and watched over him carefully. It’s such a tragedy…” He also emphasized how fully devoted she was to giving him the best upbringing she could: “She fought so hard for that child. She was constantly taking him to occupational therapy and physiotherapy. They had recently visited the Children’s Hospital in Patras for tests and, thankfully, everything had come back fine. It’s a tremendous loss — for the child, but also for his mother.”
