Dharmvir Singh, 38, and his father Gurjinder Singh, 65, from Clyde North in Victoria died by drowning in a hotel pool on the Gold Coast in Queensland last week. It is believed the family was holidaying in a seaside resort Orchid Avenue at Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast when the pool tragedy took place.
Dharmvir Singh’s two-year-old daughter who was playing by the pool side suddenly slipped into the pool and fell into a deeper part of the water.
Both, Dharmvir Singh and his father Gurjinder Singh jumped into the pool to save the toddler but then got into difficulty themselves.
While the toddler was pulled from the water without any physical injury, but Dharmvir and his father Gurjinder had fallen into cardiac arrest by the time they were rescued by fellow holidaymakers who pulled the family from the water and performed CPR on the two men before paramedics arrived.
However, despite the best efforts to save them, both Dharmvir and Gurjinder were pronounced dead at the scene, dying of cardiac arrest.
MP Jason Wood, who identified the pair on his Facebook page, said: “My thoughts and prayers go out to their friends and family during this awful time.”
He added the toddler did not suffer any physical injuries.
Senior operations supervisor Mitch Ware from Queensland Ambulance Service said a woman who knew the family was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital “in an emotional state” but stable condition.
Some members of the community believe that woman to be the mother of the toddler.
He described the scene as “extremely emotional”, adding: “Anyone could understand that, not just to lose one family member but to lose two family members.”
With this pool tragedy, the Indian community in Australia has far too many drownings this summer. Only in January, four members of a family from Clyde North was swept away into the ocean at Philip Island.
In late March, we lost a 26 years old Indian international student at Apollo Bay with two others critically injured but saved, thanks to the valiant efforts of Melbourne woman Brianna Hurst who pulled them to safety.
It’s been one of the worst summers for drowning deaths for the Indian community in Victoria.