Coroner highlights dangers of fishponds after tragic drowning of 11-month-old Springvale girl

The drowning death of a baby girl was no one’s fault, a coroner has said, but the safety risks of fishponds should not be understated.

A coroner has highlighted the safety risks with ponds after the “tragic” drowning of a baby girl.

The little girl, referred to under the pseudonym NJ, was found unresponsive in a koi pond in the family’s Springvale backyard in December 2020.

At 11 months old, NJ had just learned to walk and was very active and persistent, “often trying something more than once if she was at first unsuccessful”.

She was a “talkative and happy” baby who loved to dance.

On Sunday December 13, after her mother fed her, a neighbour arrived and asked to play with NJ.

Her older sister brought her downstairs and the three children, mother and the neighbour played together before the children began watching television.

Half an hour later, the neighbour’s partner took the bins out when he noticed something in the shallow pond.

Looking closer, he discovered NJ face down in the 32cm deep water.

“NJ had always loved looking at the fish in the pond,” Mr Olle said in his report, and the male neighbour believed she was likely “trying to look at them”.

Calling for help, he pulled NJ from the water.

Neighbours Phong Nguyen, 44, and Thu Le, 30, rushed to the baby’s aid after hearing the pleas for help.

Phong Nguyen and his wife Thu Le outside their Springvale home. Mr Nguyen performed CPR on his neighbour's 11 month-old daughter after she fell into a shallow fish pond.

At the time, Mr Nguyen said the normally bubbly baby was “pale, soft and cold”.

He and NJ’s mother began CPR and were still going when paramedics arrived.

She was taken to Monash Hospital in Clayton but by Monday afternoon she was declared braindead.

“There is nobody to blame for her tragic death, however the circumstances of her death highlight the potential danger of fishponds,” Mr Olle said.

“The importance of ensuring the safety of children around water cannot be overstated.”

Life Saving Victoria was consulted about whether wire mesh should be a requirement of fishponds.

The organisation wasn’t against the idea however, they raised concern children could potentially get stuck under mesh, as sometimes happens in pools with pool covers, and this would inhibit their ability to escape the fishpond.

LSV also said in this instance wire mesh may not have prevented the death due to other factors such as the baby’s nappy filling with water and the pressure of the water pump.

There have been four drowning deaths of children in ponds since 2000.