Boy who nearly drowned in Cathedral City passes away

The family of the 19-month-old boy who was being kept on life-support after nearly drowning in Cathedral City on Thursday, October 9, said baby Giovanni passed away on Tuesday.

He was being treated at Loma Linda University Medical Center after he fell into a swimming pool in the 68700 block of Concepcion Road in the Panorama Park neighborhood.

His family began raising money for Giovanni because his brain wasn’t functioning normally and his mother was exploring the option of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which is used to treat near-drowning victims.

Giovanni was still able to breathe on his own and his organs were functioning, but without proper treatment he could have been left in a vegetative state if he survived, according to family members.

The boy was initially taken to Desert Regional Medical Center but was quickly flown to Loma Linda where he was placed in a medical-induced coma, a friend of the family told KESQ and CBS Local 2.