The boy who perished after suffering a medical emergency at Wild Rivers waterpark in Irvine died from a rare congenital heart defect, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said on Tuesday, June 25.
The sheriff’s Coroner Division found Titus Mark Wininger, 11, of Escondido, died June 22 from anomalous insertion of coronary arteries, said Sgt. Matt Parrish, a sheriff’s spokesman.
The condition happens when an artery is not properly formed before childbirth, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The artery can be in the wrong place or come from the wrong place. That disrupts the normal way blood flows through the heart and can prevent oxygen-rich blood from getting to the heart muscle. The result can be chest pain, shortness of breath or death. It affects 1% of the population, often with no consequences.
It can be treated with surgery but is difficult to detect as some people show no symptoms.
Wininger had previously been reported as being 12 years old.
A GoFundMe page established to assist the family said Titus was at the water park with a youth group.
Orange County firefighters were called to the park just past 11 a.m. on Saturday. Titus was taken to a hospital, where he died.
Wild Rivers officials, in a statement posted on Facebook, said the boy “experienced a non-water, but medical related incident outside one of our pools.”