Theo Treharne-Jones died aged five at the Atlantica Holiday Village in Kos, Greece, after being found in a swimming pool – he couldn’t be saved despite the best efforts of staff and holidaymakers
A “loving” five-year-old boy died tragically while swimming in a pool after he was able to unlock the doors to the apartment his family were sharing on a holiday in Greece, an inquest has heard.
Theo Treharne-Jones, from Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, was on holiday with his family at the Atlantica Holiday Village on the Greek island of Kos in June 2019 when he was found in an outdoor pool at the resort.
An inquest into his death at Pontypridd Coroner’s Court heard the family had returned to the holiday village after nine months, and that young Theo, who had the neurodevelopmental disorder Smith-Magenis syndrom and was nonverbal, was excited to return.
But the inquest heard they were placed in a different part of the complex during their latest visit, with different door mechanisms that the boy’s mum said meant they “can’t lock” the door.
Nina Treharne, Theo’s mum, who was with her partner Richard Jones and their four children, then 16, 13, five and three, and Nina’s sister, her partner and their two children during the holiday, said the family noted there was “no chain on the door”.
She told the inquest: “We got in the room, the door was completely different and I said to Richard there’s no chain on this door, you can’t lock it.” The family decided that, to keep the door shut, they would pile their suitcases and buggies against it as a “precaution”, with the mum saying she believed she would wake up to the sound of the jostled items if someone tried to gain entry or leave.
On the morning of June 15, she awoke to find the door to the family’s room was ajar, and heard a woman banging and shouting “there’s a child in the pool”. She said: “I opened my eyes in the morning and all I could hear was a woman banging and a woman shouting ‘there’s a child in the pool, there’s a child in the pool’.
“I saw our door was ajar and I ran. It was just bang bang bang, there’s a child in the pool, there’s a child in the pool and that was it really. I woke up to an absolute nightmare, banging and banging and the child’s in the pool.”
Mr Jones, Theo’s dad, added that he initially believed there was a child down by the pool, and was expecting to see his son in its vicinity. He said: “I thought they said there was a child down by the pool, I ran down expecting to see him by the pool but he was on a sun lounger and one member of staff was giving him CPR. There were people trying to phone an ambulance and find a defibrillator.”
Despite the heroic efforts of both other holidaymakers and staff at the resort, who removed Theo from the pool and provided CPR and used a defibrilator, the five-year-old died after he was brought to hospital.
Mr Jones remembered his “loving, affectionate” son in a heartbreaking statement to the inquest, saying: “He was really loving, affectionate, happy and had an infectious laugh and smile. He was a beautiful child.”
The inquest continues.