Nappanee drowning victim to be taken off ventilator, parents speak out

ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. -- A 10-year-old is on a ventilator at Memorial Hospital after drowning in a pool on the Fourth of July.

Kymani was swimming at Nappanee Public Pool when lifeguards weren’t able to save him in time.

“We got to say, ‘I love you, and have fun”, and that was the last thing we got to say to him,” says Shauna Collier, the mother of the drowning victim.

Robert Carter and Shauna Collier didn’t know they were talking to their oldest son for the last time, when they dropped him and his brothers off at grandmas for the week. 

But on the Fourth of July, they got the call.

“That was the worst phone call of my life,” Collier recalls.

Shauna’s mother was on the other end of the phone, telling her Kymani had drowned. 

Their four sons were spending the holiday with their grandma at the Nappanee Public Pool—when ten-year-old Kymani slipped and fell into the deep end. 

His 9-year-old brother Keyon tried to save his life.

“Keyon was yelling for help, and nobody could hear him, or nobody was listening to him,” Collier was told by her mother. “He jumped in and tried to save him, and he couldn’t.” 

It’s unclear if lifeguards were able to hear the two screaming for help. Witnesses say the pool was crowded with kids. 

Kymani leaves behind his parents and three younger brothers, including Keyon, who his parents say was attached at the hip to Kymani.

“They spent every day together,” Carter shares.

When Kymani was taken out of the water, an ambulance took him to Elkhart General Hospital, then he was flown to Memorial Hospital in South Bend where Robert and Shauna say doctors tried everything.

However, Kymani is still on a ventilator. 

“There’s no brain function, he’s not there,” Collier explains her son’s condition.

With doctors advising there's no chance of a recovery, Robert and Shauna will take Kymani off the ventilator.

They say there’s no feeling like it, knowing they will miss his silly humor, his courageousness, and the way Kymani cared for his baby brothers. 

He just graduated fourth grade at Chamberlain Elementary and would've turned 11 this Sunday, July 9.

“Kymani was fearless,” Collier describes Kymani. “That boy could jump off anything, pick up any bug, he was fearless.” 

They know if he were able to talk, he would let them, and his brothers know it’s all going to be alright. 

“He always let you know, I don’t care what the situation is, that everything’s going to be alright, that’s his favorite line, ‘It’s alright,’” they both remember about their son.

They say they will go to Memorial Hospital Thursday and start to figure out funeral details, as well as when Kymani will be taken off the ventilator. They already have plans to donate his organs. 

The family has started a GoFundMe to help cover funeral expenses.