The 6-year-old who drowned at a South Jersey summer camp was there to take swim lessons, mother says

Since the moment he was born, Michael Stewart was “eager to meet the world,” his mother said.

A premature baby, born in his mother’s 23rd week of pregnancy, Michael was becoming a jack of all trades. The 6-year-old played basketball and baseball and excelled academically.

On Monday, Michael attended the first day of summer camp at Liberty Lake in Burlington County, ready to add swimming to his list of skills. But the day instead brought tragedy, when Michael drowned in a pool at the popular Mansfield Township camp.

Michael was a beginner swimmer and was going to have one-on-one swim lessons for 13 days beginning Monday, but his first class was canceled, said his mother, Enjoli Stewart.

Just before 2 p.m., he was found unresponsive after drowning in a swimming pool, the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement. A lifeguard and trained staff pulled him out of the water, administered CPR, and called 911, camp founder Andy Pritikin wrote in a message to families Monday.

The camp did not comment Tuesday on how he might have wound up in the pool unguarded or respond to additional questions about the death or its operations.

Enjoli Stewart said the camp called her and told her that her son swallowed too much water and had an erratic heartbeat, she said.

Michael was taken to Virtua Hospital in Mount Holly, where doctors tried to resuscitate him, but he was later pronounced dead.

Stewart said the camp has not been transparent about what led to his death, even after she confronted them in person.

He had a bright future ahead, but “I feel like the camp didn’t think the same of him,” she said.

A medical examiner was expected to perform an autopsy Tuesday. An investigation is underway, but the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office, the Mansfield Township Police Department, and the camp have not released additional information about his death.

Pritikin said the summer camp resumed activities Tuesday. The camp closed the pool on Wednesday but camp officials did not provide additional information.

In his message on Monday, Pritikin said a licensed clinical social worker who works at the camp full-time was providing counseling to people who witnessed the incident.

“The safety and well-being of our campers and staff is our number one priority,” he said, adding that Liberty Lake has three registered nurses on staff, and 25 lifeguards certified in first aid, CPR, and the use of a defibrillator. He noted that the Mansfield First Aid Squad is “just down the street.”

Families who attend the camp, as well as Enjoli Stewart, have circulated Facebook posts asking parents to call the camp to demand that the pool be closed. Pritikin emailed families Tuesday afternoon to invite them to a Zoom meeting in the evening and ask questions.

“There is good that is going to come out of this, and I might not be able to figure it out right now, but I’m hoping that whatever comes out of it will help somebody else,” Stewart said.