This happened to the child of a man my husband worked with. They had 7 children and the second youngest wandered off. She was the same age as my youngest, it was an awful tragedy.
Terrible tragedy. Every year you hear of these tragic events. It only takes a second for a child to wander off. Where I live all pools must be fenced and entry latches placed high enough to be out of the reach of children, not sure what the exact height must be. Even when my kids were older and people had pool birthday parties, there had to be an adult present for each child in case something happened. I hated the words “pool party” on any kind of invitation.
My heart goes our to Bode Miller and his wife as they deal with this terrible loss
This is a large part of the reason why H and I never bought a house with a pool and always took our kids to the village pool which had lifeguards. Until they were about 5, they were in the baby pool with one of us. Also, even though there were lifeguards, kids under 8 - 10 had to be with a parent (I can’t remember now). One parent could be with multiple kids but the parent had to be in the pool.
I remember taking one of my sons to a pool party at the end of 1st grade. I stayed because I was concerned about the number of kids (about 25) vs. the number of lifeguards (one). My son had been taking swimming lessons since he was about 3, but he was still a little kid. One of his friends was sitting in a little floating raft which suddenly flipped over. The lifeguard was looking elsewhere. As I stood up to get to the pool, my son swam over, went under the water and righted the floatie. I went in and got the kid out of the floatie thing and took him back to the shallow end. I never left my kids, any of them, at a pool party after that until they were in middle school. At that point, they each had about 8 years of lessons.
I feel so badly for the Miller family. Nobody should have to bury a child.
I also personally known one set of parents who lost a child to drowning in a pond on their property 25 years ago. It is always tragic and can happen in the blink of an eye.
I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir here, but a reminder: a child can drown in as little as 2 inches of water. So a kiddie pool or even a bucket containing even that small amount would be enough to lead to death.
The family across the street from me almost lost a child to drowning. They had fences, alarms, the whole deal, but also three kids and were in the middle of moving. Someone left the gate open. Thankfully the child was missed and pulled out of the water. He may have suffered some subtle brain damage; they moved before it was clear.
@BunsenBurner If you’re referring to my comment, I never said that they were floaties, nor did I mention that the devices we use are acting as babysitters. I certainly didn’t say that we relied on them and thus, didn’t supervise the kids!
This strikes too close to home. In April of 2017, our neighbor’s 3 year old wandered out to the pool while mommy was sleeping. The 13 year old sister found her. So tragic.
When my kid was 7, we stayed in a vacation home with a lanai pool. She was sitting on the submerged ledge essentially next to me when she pushed off and sank straight to the bottom without a peep or a splash. My sister was actually looking at her and was in the water pulling her out before I knew she’d gone under. Kids are just scary fast.
@alwaysamom - your post did not make it clear that your flotation devices were coast guard approved ones (yes, there is a difference).
Re: babysitting - that was a general comment. I’ve seen too many parents on HI beaches putting a flimsy vest or floaties on their kid and letting her run into the ocean.
Years ago we were at a family party where there was a pool. H had already changed into his clothes when I went into the changing room. When I came out H was calmly standing by the pool soaking wet. One of the kids had gone under and he just stepped off into the pool to pull him up. Had to credit his reaction time.
Even when people are there watching, things can happen.
I bet whoever was supposed to be “watching” was not really keeping an eye on the kid and bing alert. Very often, when a crowd gathers, people assume that nothing bad could happen when there are so many eyes present. That was definitely the case in the incident I described. Several folks were lounging around the pool and their kids were splashing. The little kid slipped out of the floatie ring and went under…
@BunsenBurner Sadly, the one who was ‘watching’ her, was her pregnant mother. I cannot imagine the horrors of that
@allyphoe–my D was about 3 and standing right next to me near the pool. She just fell in and it happened so fast I still to this day replay it in my mind. I don’t think she even got her head wet I grabbed her so fast.
“Bode Miller/wealthy white people - this was a tragic accident, a mishap, very sad for the family
Poor “trash”, minorities - the mother was inattentive, failure to supervise, often criminal charges filed”
This was tragic and it happens way too often but never ever have I seen criminal charges filed on anybody in a case like this no matter their status.
I was replying to sylvan’s comment. I feel absolutely awful about this horrible death. Can’t really put myself in the mother’s shoes. The little girl still had a pulse and apparently died in the ER…
Feeling so awful for this family. (I heard the mom is pregnant --must be extra difficult for her.)
Our youngest child (then 2 1/2) nearly drowned in our backyard pool . I remember the date: 7-7-07. Her 16yo sister and 17yo friend were babysitting her and 4 other siblings. We were preparing to move and H and I were out of town house shopping.
We had alarms on the doors. But apparently no one took notice of them when the 5yo and 2yo went out. (Yes, my 11 and 13yo sons continued to play video games…) Fortunately our 8yo D saw the 5yo in the pool area through the window. She ran out there, saw the 2yo under water, jumped in (clothes/shoes and all) and pulled her sister out while the 5yo ran to get the babysitters. The 2yo must have just gone under–she was fine, just coughed up a little water. Not a 911 call. (Though I’ve heard of “delayed drowning” and she probably should’ve been checked…but I wasn’t there.) We were so lucky. If the timing had been different…I can’t even think about it.
That day, H and I had looked at a house with a pool. As soon as we heard what happened, we decided, “No more pools!”
We call 7-7 Lifesaver Day at our house.
I post this article every year on my FB page:
Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/family/2013/06/rescuing_drowning_children_how_to_know_when_someone_is_in_trouble_in_the.html
I really didn’t enjoy having young kids that much and I think the main reason was I felt the need to watch them every second. Not every minute. Every second. It was exhausting. And then I’d go to parties where some people with kids my kids age just were spending their time chit chatting and only paying half attention and then were shocked when the kid wandered away. One time one ended up in the street. Luckily he wasn’t hurt. And the parents were like "kids are just too fast. " But really they weren’t watching him closely ennough.
My kid and my niece nearly drowned. They were in the backyard pool of my folks and the adults were sitting around chatting and “supervising.” Suddenly, I noticed niece disappeared and I grabbed her and pulled her up back above the water. Her mom wasn’t even watching and to this day didn’t realize how close niece came to drowning. My kid was wearing a “floatie” that flipped him UNDER the water and kept him under. I grabbed him and took him out of it and put him back in the shallow end of the pool.
Our kids were invited to lots of events with water–the beach, neighborhood pools and more. I always insisted on coming until they were in middle school. They started swimming lessons when they were 2 and were able to tread water and go about 20-40 feet by the time they were 4. Still, water and kids are a dangerous combination and I have never been comfortable having lots of kids around water. It’s so easy to lose track of a child near water–I’ve always found pool parties nerve-wracking.
Our law firm represented families of several drowning victims. Nothing ever consoled the families. They were never the same after they lost a child to drowning.
Thank you @brantly for posting that article. Very helpful.