Public Pool Fails Inspection Day After Drowning Incident

A public pool in Richmond, Ky., has been forced to close after failing to pass an inspection just one day after a boy drowned at the facility. 

According to WKYT, 7-year-old Santino Yancey-Hardwick was found unresponsive at the Paradise Cove Aquatic Center on June 30. Richmond performed CPR at the pool before Hardwick was taken to the hospital, where he later died.

In a July 3 statement on Facebook, the City of Richmond posted that “Madison County Health Department has finalized their necessary facility inspection. Paradise Cove received a pass rating on their inspection.”

However, WKYT uncovered records that refute the city's official report on the inspection. 

One day after Hardwick drowned, inspectors detailed several violations at both Madison County pools. The inspection reports for each are identical. They ordered the immediate closure of both pools, giving them an 89% rating. The violations included loose handrails, men’s showers in poor repair, unclean pool bottoms, and no chlorine was observed in either pool.

“Some of these things go directly to health. I mean, no chlorine observed in the pool. That’s absolutely a health issue and it’s a safety issue. Visibility is on our mind right now about what occurred, and we know that chlorine can help the visibility of a pool,” said Hardwick's attorney, Justin Peterson.

Peterson said that he wasn't too surprised when he saw the inspection forms, as he'd heard similar things from witnesses at the scene. 

“The items in here are clearly things that should have been done. Why they weren’t, we’re going to seek to find that out, and we’ll continue with our investigation. We’ll do everything we can to get answers for this family,” said Peterson.