Girl, 10, drowns in pool in Campbell County

A 10-year-old girl drowned in a backyard swimming pool in Campbell County on Tuesday night.

Irene Hope Mad-Bondo was swimming in a neighbor’s pool in the Timberlake area around 6:35 p.m. with a 9-year-old and an 11-year-old friend, said Major Steve Hutcherson of the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office.

She was playing with the two children when she got into water above her head. No adults were with the children as they played in the pool, he said.

“The witnesses made every attempt to save her but they were not able to,” Hutcherson said.

When the children couldn’t get Irene out of the pool they began yelling for help, he said. An adult was able to pull her from the pool, but by that time Irene wasn’t breathing.

According to the transcript of the 911 call, which came in at 6:41 p.m., the girl was unresponsive and vomiting after she was pulled from the pool.

Rescue crews arrived at the house on Arrowhead Drive five minutes after the call came in. The girl was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital, but died.

Hutcherson said the circumstances of the incident, which appears to be accidental, are under investigation.

Leesville Road Elementary School Principal Kathy Bowles said Irene was a fifth-grader and new to the school this year. Her parents, Cyrus and Julie Mad-Bondo, recently moved their family to the area from Ohio. Irene has two siblings.

Bowles said notification of school faculty and staff was almost immediate. The school has a crisis phone tree in place and many learned the news Tuesday night, including the bus driver on Irene’s route.

Bowles said school officials held a meeting Wednesday morning before school to talk with staff about the incident. Once students arrived at school they were held on buses and in cars as faculty and staff met.

“We want to let faculty and staff know factual information and dismiss any rumors,” she said.

An emotional Bowles said the Leesville Road community is saddened. She also said she had been in contact with Irene’s mother Wednesday morning.

“She’s very much in shock,” Bowles said.

Officials did not make a school-wide announcement about the tragedy; rather they traveled to individual classrooms. An additional five to six counselors were at the school Wednesday to speak with students and staff.

“We have a crisis team we’ve called in,” Bowles said.

Students have had the opportunity to draw and make cards and talk with counselors.

Irene’s obituary said she loved the outdoors and being around animals and her friends.

Her funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at the Heritage Funeral Home’s chapel. She will be buried after the service at Spring Hill Cemetery.