GOOSE CREEK, S.C. - A 10-year-old South Carolina boy died several hours after swimming in a local pool.

NBC

Johnny Jackson drowned even though he was no where near water.

“I feel like someone reached in and grabbed my heart and just yanked it out,” explained Cassandra Jackson.

Her son Johnny begged her to let him swim for the first time. On Sunday, she gave in.

“I lost him in the process, but I gave him what he wanted,” she said.

While authorities say the water killed him, Johnny did not die at the pool.

“He was talking, he was walking,” Jackson explained.

“He walked home from the pool,” said her best friend, Christine Meekins. “It was an hour later that he passed away.”

Jenkins says during that time she gave Johnny a bath and let him take a nap. The Coroner says that's when the pool water the 10-year-old ingested filled his lungs.

Paramedics say delayed or "dry drowning" is rare but it does happen.

Dr. Jairy Hunter at Trident Health System said parents need to keep an eye on kids when they get out of the water.

“If they come out of the water and their mental status has changed - they may be confused, overly sleepy, having trouble sleeping, chest pain or feel that they have swallowed a great deal of water - in that instance, I would recommend that someone seek emergency medical care,” he said.

Johnny's mother said the boy had soiled himself, was drowsy and began speaking slowly.

If she could, Jenkins would do what she hopes her story inspires other parents to do with their kids: “Love them as though this was their last days because you just never know.”