Baby who fell into Kaweah River in stable condition, sheriff's office says
.JPG "The Kaweah River near Woodlake, where a 7-month-old baby boy and a man fell in June 26. The baby is in stable condition, and the man who rescued him is out of the hospital.")
A 7-month-old baby boy who was rescued from the Kaweah River last week is in stable condition, and the man who rescued him is out of the hospital.
The update was provided Friday by Tulare County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Teresa Douglass. The baby boy had been taken into Valley Children’s Hospital's pediatric intensive care unit in critical condition on June 26 after he fell into the Kaweah River near Woodlake, according to the sheriff's office.
The sheriff's office said a Visalia family was rafting on the river when the baby boy fell out of the raft and began to go downstream. A total of three adults and three children were on the raft.
A family friend who noticed the baby in the water jumped in and rescued the child, but that 37-year-old man then also needed to be rescued by Woodlake police, who were the first to arrive on scene. The man, whose name was not provided by the sheriff's office, self-released from the Kaweah Delta Medical Center last week, according to the sheriff's office.
The incident occurred in the area where the Friant-Kern Canal goes beneath the Kaweah River, officials said. The sheriff's office advises people on the river to use personal flotation devices, especially life jackets.