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SALT LAKE CITY -- The two-year-old who was pulled from the Virgin River last night has now been placed on life support. The Washington County Sheriff's Office said that sometime overnight he stopped breathing.
The boy was camping with his mother and her boyfriend near the Virgin River last night, when around 8:30 p.m. he somehow fell into the river at "Sheep Bridge."
It is believed that the boy was in the water for about 5 minutes before he was found.
"He became unconscious," said Lt. Rob Tersigni of the Washington County Sheriff's Office. "The boyfriend pulled him out of the river, they began working on him. Apparently he got to the hospital they restored his breathing."
The boy was flown to Primary Children's Medical Center by helicopter Wednesday night, when doctors were first optimistic about his recovery. But he has now been placed on life support.
Tersigni says the boy and his family are from the Washington County area. Law enforcement has been working with them, gathering the details of what exactly happened and how this boy ended up in the river.
In the past few weeks five children have died after falling into Utah waterways. One of those tragic accidents involved a 15-year-old boy who also fell into the Virgin River.
Written with contributions from Shara Park and Randall Jeppesen.
