Secondary Drowning: Know What To Look For In Your Kids This Summer

There was a really tragic story last week about a 4-year-old kid who died from a rare condition called "secondary drowning." It's where you inhale water and don't cough it up. Then it creates an infection, which causes more fluid to build up. But it can take 24 hours to see any symptoms. The kid last week went swimming almost a week before he died.

But there's a silver lining to the story, because it could have happened again…this time to a 2 year-old. His dad took him swimming…and then saw the story about the kid that had passed away…and realized his son had the same symptoms. So he immediately got him to a hospital…and it saved his life. It turned out the same thing was happening. Doctors say he probably wouldn't have made it through the night if his dad hadn't brought him in.

If you have kids, here's what to look for, according to parents.com. The symptoms of "secondary drowning" include coughing, trouble breathing, chest pain, vomiting, and fatigue. A lot of stories about the kid that died, called it "dry drowning," but that's actually a little different. With "dry drowning," the water doesn't actually get in your lungs. Instead, it causes your vocal chords to spasm  and closes off your airway. So it looks more like choking, and usually happens right after they get out of the water.