SURREY - The Surrey grandma who tried to rescue her baby grandson from drowning has died in hospital.

Warina Nissan, 51, and 20-month-old Ivan Yousif were found floating face down in an outdoor pool at Evergreen Apartments in Guildford on Sunday night by a resident who came for a swim at about 9 p.m.

Both were fully clothed. It's not known how long they'd been there. The pool, which is eight feet at its deepest, is partially surrounded by shrubbery.

Paramedics couldn't resuscitate Ivan and he was pronounced dead at Royal Columbian Hospital.

Surrey RCMP Sgt. Drew Grainger said Warina was taken off life support at about noon Monday after doctors could find no brain activity. Both lived at the apartment complex, at 10525 150th St.

"It's a very unimaginable tragedy," Grainger said. Police figure the child fell into the pool and the grandmother, who didn't know how to swim, jumped in to rescue him. "She must have been in a moment of sheer panic," Grainger said.

Resident Zelba Lucinia said the pool had been open for less than a week. She saw the paramedics performing CPR on the victims.

"It's so sad," Lucinia said.

The BC Coroners Service is looking into the drowning deaths.

"With the summer season now upon us, this unimaginable tragedy is a reminder to the public to always be mindful of young persons' vulnerability around bodies of water," Grainger said. "It is also a reminder for us as parents or guardians to have an awareness of our own abilities as life savers."

Meanwhile, paramedics responded to another pool-related call at about noon Monday, this time in a backyard swimming pool in the 9600-block of 129th Street in Whalley. A two-year-old girl was found unconscious but was still breathing. She was taken to B.C. Children's Hospital and her condition is unknown.

tzytaruk@thenownewspaper.com