[blparent] children drowning in shallow water

Mon Apr 9 04:36:56 UTC 2012

That type of scenario is what happened to the child of my friend's friend 
last summer.  She slipped off a ledge into deeper water than she expected, 
and lost hold of the raft she had been half lying on.  Even though she was a 
good swimmer, she panicked, went under, and sucked in water.  Then she 
vomited, and sucked in that, too.  It was less than two minutes before she 
was pulled from the pool and her father began rescue breathing, but still, 
she had virtually no life signs when she arrived at Children's Hospital. 
She's making very slow baby steps toward recovery, but she has a feeding 
tube in her stomach because she can't swallow.  She's spoken a few words, 
but not many.  She seems to be almost totally blind.  She has to have help 
standing, sitting up, coughing, rolling over in bed.  She uses a wheelchair. 
In short, she's going to have a very different life than her parents 
expected for her.  It's sad.  Things happen so terribly quick.  Frankly, I 
feel blessed every day when I put my daughter to bed healthy and happy.

Jo Elizabeth

"How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young, 
compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of 
the weak and the strong.  Because someday in life you will have been all of 
these."--George Washington Carver, 1864-1943, American scientist

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Veronica Smith" <madison_tewe at spinn.net>
Sent: Sunday, April 08, 2012 10:17 PM
To: "'Blind Parents Mailing List'" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [blparent] children drowning in shallow water

> Something like that happened to me when I was like 7.  I knew how to swim
> but we were at a hotel and some how I slipped and dropped off a under 
> water
> ledge.  My brother who was 10 at the time was suppose to be watching me
> while my mom ran to the car to get something.  I went under the water and
> the more I did, the more panicky I got and was flailing my arms and my
> brother thought I was just playing around and finally my mother came from
> who knows where and grabbed me.  The water wasn't very deep, but I wa
> terrified and kept sucking in water.  I was scared of pools for a long 
> long
> time.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Jo Elizabeth Pinto
> Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2012 4:36 PM
> To: Blind Parents Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [blparent] children drowning in shallow water
>
> I have a good friend who knows somebody whose ten-year-old daughter nearly
> drowned last summer when she was the only one in the pool.  She was a good
> swimmer, but somehow she slipped and went under.  She lived, but she has
> severe physical and cognitive disabilities now.  Her parents and brother
> were moving boxes out of her grandmother's apartment, and the pool was 
> right
> there in the courtyard, so they were parading past the whole time.  But 
> like
> you said, they were distracted, and it only took a second.
>
>
> Jo Elizabeth
>
> "How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young,
> compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant 
> of
> the weak and the strong.  Because someday in life you will have been all 
> of
> these."--George Washington Carver, 1864-1943, American scientist
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "Erin Rumer" <erinrumer at gmail.com>
> Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2012 4:31 PM
> To: "'Blind Parents Mailing List'" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [blparent] children drowning in shallow water
>
>> I met a mom in a breast feeding support group I went to in Tucson who
>> lost her 6 year old daughter to drowning in a pool during a family
>> birthday party.  I was touched that she was willing to share her story
>> and she told me that the hardest thing to deal with is people's
>> judgment toward her and her family.  She said that a person really
>> doesn't know how vulnerable they are until it happens to them and that
>> it can happen to absolutely anyone.
>> The kids were playing and the little girl just got pushed under
>> accidentally during the rough housing.  It didn't seem to the adults
>> at the party that the playing was out of hand but it didn't take much
>> and there was the little
>> 6 year old girl floating on top of the water lifelessly.  This taught
>> me that something like this can happen in seconds and to anyone.  It
>> is very crucial to also have designated adults who are in charge of
>> manning the pool at all times.  Like this woman told me, you get to
>> where people are thinking that others are watching the pool and so
>> their guard is let down for a second and boom, it happens.  It is when
>> we admit that this could happen to us no matter how prepared we are,
>> that we will truly be doing all we can to keep our loved ones safe.  I
>> got a wonderful idea from a facilitator at one of the play groups I
>> used to attend that I will be administering in my own life.  At a get
>> together where there are lots of people is wise to give an adult a
>> whistle that they keep around their neck for 15 minutes.  It is during
>> that 15 minutes that adult is in charge of the kids in the pool and
>> doing nothing else to get distracted.  After the 15 minutes are up,
>> the whistle is then passed onto another adult.  This way everyone
>> takes turns and isn't boggled down with pool duty for too long.  It's
>> also a good amount of time that a person can be focused on the pool
>> without getting distracted.
>>
>> Erin
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>> On Behalf Of Veronica Smith
>> Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2012 2:17 PM
>> To: 'Blind Parents Mailing List'
>> Subject: Re: [blparent] children drowning in shallow water
>>
>> I think if the baby/toddler was 18 months or older, they would be able
>> to lift their head or cry if they got water up their nose but what if
>> they were younger or if they fell forward and for some reason was not
>> able to push away from the shallow water?  I used to think the same as
>> you do, how in the world, but since I have read so many articles
>> saying it happens regularly,
>> they it must be true.   Like a baby could be sitting playing and he/she
>> could fall asleep right into a bowl of water.  they don't know to sit
>> up and cough, their lungs aren't developed enough or strong enough to
>> cough it up.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>> On Behalf Of Tay Laurie
>> Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2012 10:33 PM
>> To: Blind Parents Mailing List
>> Subject: [blparent] children drowning in shallow water
>>
>> Hi everyone,
>>
>> Please note: in this post, I am not in any way attempting to be
>> insensitive to the feelings of any parent whose child has passed on in
>> this or any manner. If you feel I have been insensitive, or otherwise
>> inappropriate, you may contact me off-list.
>>
>> Begin post
>>
>> I know it's logical that of course littler ones are able to drown more
>> easily, but I'm not sure I can quite understand how it is a silent 
>> killer.
>> Is it because the respiratory system isn't developed enough yet to cough?
>> Because if so, then how can he or she cough up secretions? I'm not
>> trying to be gross, just trying to figure it out. I would think that
>> once water entered the hthroat, specifically the trachea (windpipe)
>> the baby would lift his or her head, especially if he or she is
>> capable of doing so, say around
>> 18 months of age, and would be able to cough it out, much like an
>> accidentally inhaled piece of food or sip of drink.
>> Am I just thinking about this all wrong?
>>
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