A 16-year-old schoolboy from west London is reportedly in a coma in hospital after being found lifeless in a swimming pool in Sweden.
The boy, named only as Sajawal, was in Sweden competing in a major youth football tournament when the incident happened on Friday (July 19).
He was at a swimming pool at Nolhaga Parkbad, Alingsås, around 50km northeast of Gothenburg, when he was spotted underwater and pulled out by other young swimmers.
“He was immediately rescued by other bathing youngsters,” said a spokesperson for Alingsås council.
Pool staff gave him CPR until an ambulance arrived, and Sajawal was taken to Sahlgrenska University Hospital.
Family friend Ravleen Arora said on a Gofundme page: “He is now in a coma and fighting for his life in the Swedish hospital.”
She described Sajawal, who is said to attend Hounslow’s Heathland School, as a “bright boy” and “a very talent football player”.
Sajawal is said to have been taking part in the Gothia Cup - the world's largest youth football tournament which takes place annually, and sees around 17,00 teams from 80 nations take part.
The fundraiser, launched “to help his family with costs of healthcare and the cost of Sajawal being flown back to the UK”, had reached £13,500 in donations by Wednesday morning.
Alingsås council said on Monday: “We have a pretty good idea of the course of events and the timeline, but we don't know what caused the boy to end up underwater.”
It said police had interviewed witnesses, and had launched an investigation.
The council praised other young people who were in the pool at the time of the incident, who “acted very skillfully in the water and quickly called attention and also quickly got the boy out of the water”.
Sahlgrenska hospital said on Monday the boy's condition was life-threatening.
“During Friday evening and beyond, the municipality has activated crisis support that is available to both the team and the bathhouse staff,” said Alingsås council.
“As always with all types of accidents, we map the course of events carefully to decide whether we could have acted differently to prevent such an accident from happening. We will appoint an external investigation.
“Right now, everyone's thoughts go primarily to the boy, his teammates and relatives, but also staff and other visitors who were affected by the accident.”
Nolhaga Parkbad was closed over the weekend following the incident, but reopened on Monday.
The Heathland School and the Gothia Cup have been approached.
Visit the Gofundme page here.
