A day at the pool took an unexpected turn in LaSalle, Ont., near Windsor, on Sunday after a deer broke through a window during swimming lessons.
Francesco Siino says he was at the Vollmer Recreation Complex for his son’s swimming lesson, which had just finished, when another parent ran into the changing room and said there was a deer in the pool.
“I kind of just brushed it off as ‘yeah, okay, right.’ And then all of a sudden, everybody that was in the the lobby or the pool was rushing into the changing (rooms),” he said.
“It went into the glass (window) into the hot tub originally, and then it came out of the hot tub… that’s when everybody freaked out and ran out. Then it started running around the main pool and then I showed up, and I got the video of it jumping inside the pool.”
Siino estimates that it took staff about 15 or 20 minutes to get the deer out of the rec centre.
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The Town of LaSalle said Sunday afternoon that the pool at the rec centre is “closed until further notice” and that the town “will provide updates as a repair schedule becomes available.”
In a statement, the town said the deer “crashed through a north glass window” at around 2:45 p.m. Sunday and that lifeguards and staff “responded quickly clearing swimmers from the pool and patrons from the deck into the lobby.”
At the time the deer got in, about 30 people were in the aquatic centre and swimming lessons were underway.
“Staff coaxed the deer into the main lobby and helped it find its way outside. The deer may have cut itself as there was some small amounts of blood in the area. There were no injuries to staff or members of the public,” the town said.
As of Monday afternoon, there was no word on the condition of the deer. A damage estimate has not yet been made available but the town said there was shattered glass on the pool deck and inside of the hot tub. Out of “an abundance of caution,” the incident is also being treated as a “pool fouling,” meaning that the pool and deck area will be disinfected as well.
Patti Funaro, director of culture and recreation in LaSalle, said “this is not something that you can train for.”
“I commend the staff on duty who responded immediately to ensure the safety of the patrons and the deer,” she added.
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