Grieving parents push for pool safety

Heather Cerrillo has thousands of pictures of her 2-year-old son yet few portray him not grinning from ear to ear.

Dayne White was always happy, his mother said, and earned fawning from her and her husband, Patrick White.

"We asked ourselves 'Why is he so perfect?'" Cerrillo said. "He loved golf. He used to stand there and hit golf balls into the pool."

Dayne's favorite pastime turned deadly June 28 when he drowned in the pool of their home at 6270 Newville Ave.

Cerrillo and Patrick White stood beside that pool together Thursday morning, a rare occurrence for anyone dealing with such a personal tragedy.

Gripping each other's hands, they spoke about their loss in the hope that drownings like Dayne's won't happen again.

"We just want everyone to realize you can't be too careful," Patrick said, while his wife was holding back tears. "It was literally three minutes between when I was with him, eating a bite of his donut, to when I was giving my baby CPR."

To Patrick, June 28 started like a typical day. He woke up with the toddler and poured him a bowl of cereal while Dayne's three brothers, ages 4, 6 and 10, woke up.

His wife had returned from a graveyard shift and had a pile of homework to tackle, so Patrick had planned to take his brood to a nearby water park and give her a quiet day.

There was no splash or scream.

One of the other children just looked up asked, "Where is the baby?"

Patrick scoured the house and then found his son floating in the pool, with his play golf club nearby.

Dayne's death, which police determined was an accident, marked the sixth drowning in Las Vegas so far this year. The figure is one less than the total for all of 2008, Las Vegas police Lt. Ray Steiber said.

"Yesterday alone we responded to three calls of near-drownings," Steiber said at the home Thursday. "Day after day we hear the same story ... we all have to work together (to stop this )."

Dayne's family is joining the cause, hoping their pain will somehow help others.

"That's all we want to do," a tearful Patrick said.

The family decided to donate Dayne's organs. One of his kidneys went to an ailing 45-year-old man and his liver to an 11-month-old girl.

Along with Steiber, the couple stressed installing alarms, erecting gates or fences around pools, and keeping toys out of the water.

Cerrillo said they had discussed reinforcing their safety precautions just days before Dayne's death.

"Don't say tomorrow, do it right now," she said.

Dayne knew how to swim, Cerrillo said, and they don't know how he slipped out a door that usually remained locked.

The couple has decided to move from the home, near Flamingo Road and Jones Boulevard, to Washington state. They didn't say why, and a police spokeswoman cut short personal questions.

Patrick and Cerrillo leave behind a few baby toys, which were placed with the trash on the curb for garbage pickup.

They leave behind a lot of happy memories.

And one very sad one.

Contact reporter Maggie Lillis at mlillis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279.