Port Jervis man dies after saving son in backyard pool tragedy

Pawud A. Pratt died in the backyard pool of a single-family home at 61 Sussex Street after saving his son, a devastating end to a Sunday afternoon emergency in Port Jervis.

Pratt, 39, lived in the city and died in the incident at the upper Sussex Street residence, where Port Jervis police responded to the private home pool. The loss unfolded just after 4 p.m. Sunday in a residential neighborhood, turning an ordinary summer afternoon into a fatal drowning at a single-family property.

The detail that Pratt had saved his son gives the tragedy its sharpest edge. It shows how quickly a backyard pool emergency can move from rescue to disaster, even when a parent is present and acting fast. In Orange County, where backyard pools are busy in the heat of July, the Port Jervis case is a grim reminder that family settings do not remove the danger of water.

The scene also points to the safety gaps that matter most in private pools. A backyard pool depends on layers of protection that are easy to overlook: secure access to the water, constant adult supervision, flotation and rescue equipment within reach, and a clear plan for calling help the moment a swimmer is in trouble. When those safeguards are missing or delayed, a split-second emergency can become fatal.

Port Jervis police identified the location as 61 Sussex Street, and a separate account placed the drowning just after 4 p.m. on upper Sussex Street. The consistency of the location and timing underscores that this was not a public venue or municipal facility, but a private residential pool where a family gathering ended in loss.

For Orange County families, the practical check now is simple and urgent: make sure backyard pool gates latch, alarms work, rescue tools are close by, and an adult is watching whenever children are in the water. Pratt’s death left Port Jervis with a deeply personal tragedy and a summer warning that reaches far beyond one house on Sussex Street.