Weekly Rewind: House fire, drowned children, Will to Walk, CA back in business
From tragic loss to hopeful prosperity
DESERT SOUTHWEST (KYMA, KECY) - Innocent lives were lost this week: one in a house fire, the second and third drowning.
The first incident sent an additional adult and second child to the hospital. Firefighters arrived to find smoke and flames emanating from the home.
Flames caused significant damage to the house. It is no longer habitable. The American Red Cross is currently assisting the family affected.
Police say the juveniles whom drowned in a backyard swimming pool on Tuesday are brothers, ages one and two. Officers tried to perform life-saving measures until paramedics took the children to Yuma Regional Medical Center.
Doctors there tried to revive the juveniles, but ultimately declared them dead.
Although some may immediately jump to blame the parents, police clarified that the homeowners have safeguards in place. This case remains under investigation.
Damien and Xavier Ramirez were one and two at the time of their respective deaths. Police say a parent discovered both boys around 5 p.m. Tuesday.
While no one was able to speak on camera, neighbors say they didn’t hear or see anything out of the ordinary until the police arrived. They say once they found out what happened, they were at a loss and couldn’t believe it.
Friends have established a GoFundMe account to help the boys' parents pay for their funerals. Click here to make a donation.
Despite all of this occurring, there’s hope. For Jamie Tolle, who used to be an athlete, business woman and once enjoyed styling herself in 5-inch heels; she lost almost all ability after a Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP) diagnosis, except, her will to walk.
Tolle noticed something was off in her early 30's. The Brawley resident was tripping on her feet more than usual, exhausted, only able to stay awake for a few hours.
After a flight to visit her mother, she could not walk physically walk right. Her whole body was spazzing and jerking. The spazzing and jerking turned out to be HSP, a rare inherited disorder that causes weakness and stiffness in leg muscles.
Tolle is grateful to the Hanger Clinic and her clinician David Vowels for getting her back on her feet. Now stepping to a new beat, she's making major strides towards a new, adventurous future.
As California lifts their mask mandates and capacity limits, Imperial Valley resumes to open businesses and bring back live entertainment.
This pandemic has been hard for many, but some found opportunity for growth and innovation. Although the State has lifted restrictions, some businesses in Imperial County will still be implementing additional safety measures.
RELATED: Imperial County health officials recommend indoor masking
But despite their approaches to mask requirements, businesses in Imperial County are ready to receive guests as California lifts restrictions.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Imperial and Yuma Counties respectively have populations of about 180,000 and 214,000 people.
With regard to those figures, 14.6% of Imperialites have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, while approximately 17.5% of Yumans on average tested positive for COVID-19.
Both California and Arizona continue to hit vaccination milestones. Nearly 43 million vaccines have been administered in the Golden State. Whereas, Arizona nears 6.7 million coronavirus vaccinations.
