A 19-year-old Brussels man is in a coma after almost drowning in the swimming lake at the Blaarmeersen Recreation Centre in Ghent on Tuesday evening. The man was swimming illegally as the lifeguards had already clocked off for the night. He and two friends swam to the side of the lake where swimming is not allowed anyway when he ran into difficulties.
Young man in coma after nearly drowning at the Blaarmeersen recreation centre in Ghent
Published:
Each evening at 7pm swimmers at the Baarmeersen Recreation Centre in Ghent are told in 3 languages to leave the water and red flags indicating that swimming is no longer permitted are raised around the swimming lake. However, on Tuesday evening half an hour the lifeguards had finished work 3 young men from Brussels decided to swim across the lake.
Catherine Meyvaert of the water company Farys that manages the lake told VRT News that "Swimming is banned on the other side of the lake anyway as there is a dangerous undercurrent. It was there that 1 of the 3 boys got into difficulty. He is a French-speaking boy aged 19”.
"People that were on the bank on the far side of the lake jump in to help him. They dragged him to the beach and made a commotion to attract the attention of our medical staff”.
They were able to resuscitate the 19-year-old. He was taken to hospital where he is being kept in an artificial coma.