5-Year-Old MI Boy Not Wearing Life Jacket Drowns While Tubing

A 5-year-old Cheboygan County boy drowned this past weekend after he fell from a tube while not wearing a life jacket and being towed by a boat.

According to MId-Michigan Now, the child was found in about 10 feet of water and estimated to have been in the water for around five minutes before a bystander pulled them out and rushed them to shore.

The boy was airlifted from Duncan Bay on Lake Huron to Motts Children’s Hospital in Washtenaw County. He, unfortunately, passed away early Monday morning.

Sheriff Dale Clarmont:

We are deeply saddened by the events of Sunday with the community needlessly losing a 5-year-old boy. Michigan Law is clear a child that age must wear a life jacket anytime they are on this type of boat or being towed on a tube on Michigan waters.

This is one of those stories that's really hard to wrap your head around. I don't understand for the life of me why anyone would put a 5-year-old child on a tube and then pull them behind a boat without wearing a life jacket. Hell, the boy shouldn't have even been on that boat without a life jacket much less on a tube in open water. I feel like all of this is common sense and these people should have known better.

Police will continue to investigate all aspects of the boy's death.

Source: Mid-Michigan Now