TRAVERSE CITY — A downstate child died after striking his head in a water park at Great Wolf Lodge.
Grand Traverse sheriff's deputies and emergency personnel went to the U.S. 31 resort at about 8 p.m. Wednesday. The child's father told a deputy his son, 6, was crossing large "lily pads" in an indoor water park when he lost his balance and fell.
The pads are about three feet in circumference and appear to be made of foam covered with plastic, Grand Traverse Undersheriff Nate Alger said. Several of them are stretched across a corner of a swimming pool, and children walk or hop across the pads.
The child struck the back of the head on the pad as he fell, and then fell into the water.
The father told a deputy he and a Great Wolf lifeguard immediately pulled the boy from the water and began CPR. The boy was wearing a life jacket.
"It was a witnessed incident, several people saw it. They acted appropriately and they acted immediately," Alger said. "It was to no avail."
The boy, of Livonia, was taken to Munson Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. He will be taken to Grand Rapids for an autopsy, police said. It's not clear if the boy died from the head injury or from another cause.
Great Wolf General Manager Michael Lusky said the incident marked the first death at the lodge in its five-year existence.
"Our prayers and our thoughts are with (the family)," Lusky said. "This is obviously a very serious, tragic event.
Lusky wouldn't say if the incident will prompt any specific safety reviews.
"We're constantly reviewing all of our safety procedures," he said. "Safety is our number one priority."
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