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Kid sucked into drainage pipe in wading pool


MikesVikes
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Pool drains suck. Just ask the family of the little girl in this story.

 

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Pool-drain victim undergoes surgery

 

By Jeff Strickler and Susan Feyder, Star Tribune

 

Last update: July 04, 2007 – 10:29 PM

 

A 6-year-old Edina girl remained hospitalized in serious condition Wednesday after an unusual accident in which several feet of her intestine were pulled out by the suction of a swimming pool drain.

Abigail Taylor was injured Friday in the wading pool at the Minneapolis Golf Club in St. Louis Park and taken to Children's Hospital for surgery.

 

"It's a horrible, life-altering injury," said Robert Bennett, the attorney for Abigail's parents, Scott and Kathryn Taylor.

 

Bennett said doctors had to perform surgery to remove the part of Abigail's intestine that remained following the accident. He said it is likely that she will have to be fed intravenously for the rest of her life.

 

Bennett said doctors now are concentrating on preventing infection and managing pain, and are also deciding what course to take on further potential medical procedures to treat the injury.

 

Bennett said Abigail does not yet know the full extent of her injuries. "She knows she's been hurt," he said. "She's a strong little girl. How she extricated herself from that drain I'll never know."

 

Although some details of the accident are still fuzzy, it is known that Abigail was able to free herself from the drain and get out of the pool on her own without calling for help. As a result, the extent of her injuries wasn't immediately evident to the people near her.

 

In a message posted on the Caring Bridge, a nonprofit Internet site that offers free Web pages to families of people recovering from illness or injuries, the Taylors said the protective cover on the pool's drain had come off.

 

If so, the scenario of the injury fits a pattern that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission warned about in a 2005 report, "Guidelines for Entrapment Hazards: Making Pools and Spas Safer."

 

According to the report, if a child sits on an open drain, the suction, which can reach several hundred pounds per square inch, can rupture the rectum and eviscerate the child in a matter of seconds.

 

There have been three such incidents since 1990. The most recent was two years ago when a 3-year-old was disemboweled by a hot tub drain.

 

None of those accidents was fatal, although in the same time span 13 people, most of them children, drowned after being caught in underwater drains.

 

Abigail's injury comes as Congress is considering new pool-safety regulations. Instead of having one main drain, both public and private pools would be required to have multiple drains with reduced suction. Owners of existing pools would be able to install safety release sensors that will turn off the suction if it the system is blocked.

 

The Minneapolis Golf Club referred calls to its insurance company, which wasn't open Wednesday because of the holiday.

 

Bennett described the Taylors, who have three other daughters, "as brave and optimistic." He said they are focused on Abigail's immediate recovery, her long-term future care and steps that can be taken "to make sure this kind of thing never happens to anyone else again."

Edited by MikesVikes
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This is horrible but I can't help but wonder why the hell they opened a drain during a time that there are people in the pool. :D

 

 

Most pools have a drain at the bottom that recirculates water to the pump for filtration & distribution of chemicals. Its not like a bathtub drain.

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Most pools have a drain at the bottom that recirculates water to the pump for filtration & distribution of chemicals. Its not like a bathtub drain.

 

But, if the drain is at the bottom of the pool, wouldn't the kid die from drowning before she'd die from being disembowled?

 

...man, this is morbid...

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But, if the drain is at the bottom of the pool, wouldn't the kid die from drowning before she'd die from being disembowled?

 

...man, this is morbid...

 

 

i think it was a wading pool. ive read about this happening before in wading pools and hot tubs.

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i think it was a wading pool. ive read about this happening before in wading pools and hot tubs.

 

 

Yeah, wading pools come in all sort of depths and sizes. It may have only been a few inches to a foot deep... I used to life guard back in college. In addition to the large normal pool with lap lanes, deep end, etc., there were two secondary pools - one was 2 or 3 inches deep and only for babies/toddlers under their country club MILF's supervision - the other about two feet deep for the under 10 crowd.

 

The new wave of wading pools sort of adds a water park aspect - has a depth of a few inches but lots of fountains and small objects to climb on or slide down and such. I wouldn't be surprised if the accident occured in something like this one. You have to have really high pressure to work all the fountains and such. The kiddie pool pump I described above would barely suck down a leaf.

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This happened in my city, less than two blocks from where I live. I can't fathom why the grating wasn't over the drain. Apparently these accidents are rare but not unheard of - several little kids across the US have had this exact same thing happen. Others have drowned when their hair gets caught. :D

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This poor little girl is actually the daughter of a very good friend of mine's co-worker. I'm the godfather to my buddy's daughter, who's right about that age where it's time to start learning how to swim.... so, a big time reminder to parents to teach pool safety.

 

:D

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I feel so sad for the family and especially for the little girl.

 

Things like this show how much all the things we bitch about are so trivial.

 

Exactly!

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