Viral video shows importance of safety near pools

On the surface it looks cute.

A viral Facebook post from Friday night shows a toddler, clad only in a diaper, doing his best American Ninja Warrior impression as he scales a locked ladder attached to an above ground pool.

The video had 1 million views and 44,000 shares by noon Saturday.

User Keith Wyman described the scene as his 2-year-old son, Cody, finding a way to climb up the ladder of the family's recently-purchased pool that was "closed and locked."

Thankfully this was a controlled environment where an adult was able to grab the adventurer prior to a potential plunge into the pool.

"... I stress you to watch your kids around pools I will be buying a new type of ladder!!" Wyman wrote.

But what if the adults weren't there?

What if this child happened to wander outdoors unatteneded and subsequently accomplished the same feat, only to fall into the 4-foot, 500 gallon death trap?

Not something we want to imagine.

As pool season has made it to western Pennsylvania, parents like Wyman are urging others to exercise safety around pools and other bodies of water.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, drowning is the second leading cause of injury-related death in children under 15; 80 percent of which occur in residential pools or spas.

The American Academy of Pediatrics says that for every child death caused by drowning, there are four more children hospitalized for near drowning.