A Moreno Valley family is dealing with unimaginable pain as their 2-year-old son fights for his life after falling in the family’s backyard swimming and nearly drowning.
The March 13 incident occurred while little Ezequiel’s mother, Rosa Agustin, was out of the country in Mexico. The toddler was at home with his father and grandmother when a miscommunication turned into a nightmare.
“Dad thought grandma was watching him and grandma thought dad was watching him,” Augustin explained to KTLA’s Jillian Smukler.
Footage from home surveillance cameras inside the family’s kitchen shows the moment panic takes over as they realize that Ezequiel was missing. The 2-year-old had wandered into the backyard and into the swimming pool.
Augustin’s 7-year-old son called her in Mexico as the tragedy was unfolding, with the frantic screams of her family heard in the background.
“He said mom, mom, Ezequiel pool, and I said, ‘What are you saying?’ I didn’t understand him and as soon as I hear dad in the background screaming, the words connected like a magnet.”
A Moreno Valley mother is speaking out after her son’s near tragic drowning in the family’s pool on March 13, 2026. (Rosa Augustin)
A Moreno Valley mother is speaking out after her son’s near tragic drowning in the family’s pool on March 13, 2026. (Rosa Augustin)
A Moreno Valley mother is speaking out after her son’s near tragic drowning in the family’s pool on March 13, 2026. (Rosa Augustin)
A Moreno Valley mother is speaking out after her son’s near tragic drowning in the family’s pool on March 13, 2026. (Rosa Augustin)
Augustin found herself racing back to Southern California from Mexico, not knowing if she’d make it in time to see her son.
“I’m just going crazy, going, ‘I need to go home, I need to home, I need to go see my baby,’” she said.
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By the time she got back home, Ezequiel, who had to be airlifted to Loma Linda Medical Center, was in the intensive care unit. Doctors initially offered uncertainty about his condition.
“They would just tell me to pray and give it time,” Augustin explained. “It’s sad just seeing your baby there, not being able to move, not able to get up and say, ‘Mommy, I want juice.’”
After eleven days of waiting, filled with fear and heartache, the family has a sign of hope as Ezequiel has been moved out of intensive care.
“It’s just hard. I still feel it, there’s a lot of pain,” Augustin told KTLA. “But knowing that he’s recovering, he’s doing much better now…secure your backdoors, put a high lock on your doors, put an alarm on your doors from the back toward the pool, secure your pools. Summer is coming.”
With a warning to other families, Augustin said she’s continuing to pray that Ezequiel, described as a talkative, silly and happy baby of the family, continues to improve. A GoFundMe has been organized to help the family cover the mounting medical expenses.
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