Going swimming is one of the most fun summer activities — as a kid, I begged my parents every single day to let me go to a neighbor's house to swim in their pool.
Now that it's officially almost the start of summer, people are opening up their pools, dusting off their goggles, and getting out their swimsuits.
Darcey is a 6-year-old who definitely feels the same way — she loves swimming as much as any other little kid.
But recently, Darcey had a harrowing experience in a pool.
During Easter vacation, Darcey and her parents, Alex and Gareth, went on a trip. A few days before leaving, Darcey went swimming at the hotel's pool.
While she was swimming underwater, Darcey's hair got sucked into the pool filter.
For two minutes, Darcey was trapped under the water until strangers dove in to save her.
Her mom, Alex, is now warning others about the dangers of pools to help people avoid what Darcey went through.
Alex shared Darcey's story on her Facebook page, where it immediately blew up.
Within a week, Alex's post had over 26,000 reactions and over 154,000 shares.
Alex wrote:
HOPING THIS POST CAN SAVE SOMEONE’S LIFE!!!
PLEASE CAN WE ASK ALL OF OUR FRIENDS/FAMILY TO SHARE THIS POST AND TO ALSO ASK THEIR FRIENDS TO DO THE SAME.
3 days before we were due to fly home, the most horrendous incident happened to our 6-year-old daughter, Darcey, in the hotel's swimming pool.
Darcey was swimming under water when her hair got sucked into the filter that operates a waterfall in the swimming pool.
Her hair was stuck and she was unable to get up to the surface.
She was kept under the water for over 2 minutes.
Some incredibly brave people saved our little girl's life that day.
Her hair was pulled and pulled before it was ripped.
Darcey was unconscious and had to be given CPR at the poolside.
She was taken by ambulance to Arecife Hospital where she underwent X-rays, tests and was under close observation.
Her oxygen levels were low and she has lots of fluid on her right lung.
Luckily we got to bring Darcey out of hospital the following morning.
However, it could have been a completely different ending to our holiday.
2 days before the incident with Darcey, the same filter sucked in a 9-year-old boy’s swimming shorts as he swam past.
Darcey lost 4 large clumps of her hair in total, but she luckily never saw it and it all grows back.
This was the worst day of our lives.
We are still suffering to come to terms with it all now but also feel incredibly lucky to still have our beautiful, brave little girl.
We want to make as many people aware of the dangers in swimming pools as we feel so strongly about this.
Myself and Gareth don’t want any other parents/ family members to go through what we experienced that day.
We will never get over what happened, but if this post can raise some awareness, save someone's life, then we will be happy.
According to PoolSafely.gov, drowning is the leading cause of unintentional death in children ages 1 to 4.
That being said, there are a few things every parent and grandparent should know when it comes to pool safety:
- You should always watch children who are in or near water, and never leave them unattended.
- You should teach your children to swim, starting at a young age.
- You should tell your children to stay away from pool drains.
- You should make sure that all spas and pools have proper drain covers.
- You should make sure to install barriers, alarms, and covers near your pool/spa.
- You should know how to perform CPR on both adults and children.
If you think all parents should know about pool safety, please SHARE this article with your friends and family on Facebook!
