‘She never met a stranger’: 9-year-old girl drowns after days of swimming lessons

TOLEDO, Ohio. (WTVG/Gray News) - A 9-year-old girl in Ohio died after drowning in a swimming pool, according to authorities.

Authorities said Ava McCourt drowned in a pool at a home in Tiffin on June 28, family members told 13 Action News.

A woman told police that she was in the pool with Ava, along with several other adults and children at the time of the drowning.

She told officers she had been working with Ava to teach her how to swim for the past several days.

The child was using a pool noodle to keep her afloat that day.

When she noticed Ava was gone, people around the pool began searching for the 9-year-old. One of the other children then found Ava at the bottom of the pool on the deep side and the woman pulled her out.

She was taken to a hospital where she later died.

Witness statements show that the drowning happened quickly. One person told officers it happened as fast as he could snap his fingers. He said one minute the girl was there and the next she was gone.

Another witness told police it was there was no splashing or any signs that Ava was drowning.

Ava, a soon-to-be fourth grader, was described as a light who excelled in school. She loved to sing and dance and couldn’t wait for her 10th birthday so she could make her first YouTube video.

“She was so full of life,” Ava’s aunt, Jaimee Sergent, told 13 Action News. “She never met a stranger in her whole life. She has so much love for everybody.”