New Details In Keyport Boy's Tragic Drowning At Crystal Springs

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — New details have been released in the tragic death of a 6-year-old Keyport boy who drowned at Crystal Springs water park earlier this summer. By all accounts, it appears Gage Turzani died suddenly after doing a belly flop into the pool, as a young boy simply enjoying a warm summer day.

On July 30, Turzani was at the popular family water park with his father. The family lives in Keyport. Witnesses said they saw the boy running outside the pool in the Sapphire Bay section and then jumping into the water headfirst, doing a belly flop, according to police reports obtained by MyCentralJersey.com.

He is thought to have accidentally hit his head and stopped breathing, police said.

He was motionless in the water and at first a female lifeguard thought he may have been holding his breath. But when he did not move, she jumped in the water and pulled him out. When rescue workers and lifeguards administered CPR, he could be seen bleeding from his nose. According to MyCentralJersey, his face was submerged in the water for anywhere from 10 to 30 seconds.

His father had been watching the boy, and told police he had gone to the concession stand to buy a snack when his son jumped in.

Rescue workers attempted CPR at the park and Turzani was hospitalized in extremely critical condition at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. He remained there for two weeks after he was pulled from the water. He died Friday, Aug. 10.

The young boy was 11 days from his seventh birthday when he died.

Gage was a student at Madison Park Elementary School in the Old Bridge public school system. He was born Aug. 21, 2011 in Edison.

"Gage was a huge fan of the Flash. He loved to run and climb trees. He was a jokester who was constantly playing tricks on people," according to his obituary. "He loved playing with his little sister Ivy. Gage loved completing puzzles and building things. He was a big fan of the game Minecraft. Gage was a beautiful young boy who enjoyed all the activities of his youth. His passing has broken the hearts of all those that love him, but his memory will live on for a lifetime."

He is survived by his parents, Danielle and Thomas Meany, and Allen Turzani, his beloved sister Ivy Meany, and his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

No charges have been filed in his death. Past Patch reporting: Keyport Boy, 6, Drowned At Crystal Springs: Report

Photo of Gage Turzani republished by Patch with permission from Michael Hegarty & John Vincent Scalia Funeral Home and the Turzani family.