Usher's son

Usher's ex-wife cites son's pool mishap in custody bid

(CNN) -- Usher Raymond's ex-wife is asking a judge to give her custody of their two children after the oldest suffered a "near-death accident."

Five-year-old Usher Raymond V "nearly drown in a swimming pool and is currently hospitalized in the intensive care unit of the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Hospital," Tameka Raymond said in an emergency motion filed in a Fulton County, Georgia, court Tuesday.

In a statement released Wednesday, the singer said his son "is doing well and is recovering."

The statement did not address his ex-wife's motion for custody.

"I am overwhelmed by the outpouring of prayers, love and support for my family's well-being," the statement said.

Usher, as he is known professionally in his career as a singer, dancer and actor, won primary custody of the children last year after a bitter court fight in which Foster accused him of being an absentee father.

Foster renewed her arguments based on Monday's accident, contending the singer "continues to excessively travel, utilizes third-party caregivers to supervise the minor children rather than personally exercising parenting time and providing supervision for the minor children."

Usher is "not capable of providing daily caregiving and supervision for the minor children of the parties as petitioner is preparing to film a movie in Panama and has ongoing commitments that require his presence in Los Angeles, New York and various other cities for the Voice and his upcoming album."

Her motion alleges that Usher is away from Atlanta -- where she and the children live "in excess of 85% of each month." He refuses to let her see the children when he leaves towns, saying he "would rather the nanny raise the children," Foster contends.

Foster also complained that her ex-husband does not talk to her about issue affecting the boys, "including school enrollment and summer activities." The private school in which he just enrolled them is more than an hour from her home, she said. Usher has not given her the phone number to the home he moved to with the children in June, she said.

"As the result of the negligence and failure to properly supervise the minor child, U.R.,V, nearly drown in a swimming pool and is currently hospitalized in the intensive care unit of the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Hospital, undergoing treatment for the injuries sustained on August 5, 2013."

She blames the swimming accident on "the negligence and failure to properly supervise" the children. Usher's aunt was in charge of the children when the oldest son "suffered a near-death accident while left unsupervised in a swimming pool," the motion contends.

"I need an ambulance," his aunt, Rena Oden, told an emergency operator in a call to 911. "My nephew was in the pool, and I couldn't get him, I tried to get him." A recording of the call was made public by police Tuesday.

The aunt, housekeeper and another woman were "unsuccessful in pulling the victim from the pool drain," but two men -- Eugene Stachurski and Ben Crews -- who were installing sound equipment in the home rushed to help, the report said.

"They're doing CPR on him now," Oden told the operator. "Is he coming around? He's breathing!"

Stachurski, a sound technician, rescued the child from the drain and used CPR to revive him on the side of the pool, the police report said.

About five minutes into the recording, Oden told the operator that paramedics had arrived at the home and had taken over.

The child was "conscious, alert and breathing" when the ambulance took him to a hospital, where he was kept overnight for observation, the police report said.

Usher thanked Stachurski and Crews for saving his son's life. "They are true heroes and I am deeply grateful to them," Usher said in the statement.

Usher's former stepson -- also Foster's son -- died in a watercraft accident on a north Georgia lake last year.

source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/06/showbiz/usher-son-accident