Child Drowning

My youngest daughter attended a birthday party at a pool on Sunday. The party she attended was at a pool that is located indoors at our local Holiday Inn. She attended the party with other family members including, I believe, both of her older sisters, and her mother. After she came back from the party she told me that a little girl drowned at a pool party...

I tried to appear calm, but my ears perked up, and I paid a little more attention to her. She said that the girl was at a party at a different pool, and that she heard about it from the Beaver County Times, our local newspaper. My youngest is ten, so hearing that she heard it from the newspaper surprised me quite a bit. Her usual form of entertainment and news gathering are usually from the Nickelodeon, Disney, and Cartoon network channels. After a moment of surprise at my daughter's apparent maturity at reading the daily newspaper, she returned me to reality by telling me that her step-dad told her about it.

She told me that the kids thought she was just trying to see how long she could stay under water, so no one seemed to notice that she had been under the water for a long time. I did a quick search on the newspaper's website, and read the article. The coroner said she was probably under water for 10 minutes. The girl was only 5 years old, and couldn't swim. Her parents weren't at the party, they just dropped her off, and never expected any problems since there were lifeguards, and tons of adults at the party.

The article said the mother was called back to the pool when they found the girl, and she got there while they were trying to revive her. Unfortunately they couldn't bring her back. I can't imagine the agony those parents must be going through. I only had a nightmare about one of my kids drowning, and the feelings that dream brought to me were unbearable. I was able to wake up, but this poor mother and father will never have that.

I am not sure what the family is doing for arrangements, but my heart really goes out to this family. Please keep this family in your thoughts and prayers.

Today a second article came out that said they are investigating the security video to see if they can determine what happened. There is very little consolation in that tape for the parents, but hopefully it will relieve the guilt the lifeguards and other adults are most likely feeling. If it is someone's fault, then I hope the tape shows it so that person can be dealt with!

NOTE: Picture copied from the Beaver County Times website article.