West Australians are being reminded to check their pool’s safety features following the drowning of a 6-year-old boy in a Booragoon backyard.

Joey Vines went missing yesterday afternoon – he was found an hour and a half later unresponsive in the neighbour’s pool. Despite the best efforts of first responders, he couldn’t be saved.

Joey’s dad Steve gave an emotional tribute this morning.

“There’s special kids, but he was a bloody special special kid, he used to flap all the time,” he said.

“He couldn’t talk but we knew how to communicate with him, and we loved him to death, and everyone that was in his life he melted their bloody hearts. We just wish we could’ve found him quicker, thanks to the officers, and thanks to everyone for trying.”

It’s believed Joey climbed over the family’s back fence and into the neighbour’s property.

Lauren Nimmo from Royal Lifesaving WA told Perth LIVE more than half of drownings happen in home swimming pools.

“I think this incident highlights, more so than others, it’s not just pool owners with children who reside regularly at their home that need to constantly be maintaining and checking their pool fences,” she told Oliver Peterson.

“I really encourage people that when they are checking their barriers to make sure that things like pot plants, or toys, or chairs, or things like that, aren’t close by so that children can’t use that to climb over the fence.”

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