The family of a teenage girl who died tragically in 2019 are working hard to keep her legacy alive, while fighting for justice.
Nabila Maazouz was a 14-year-old freshman at the Oregon Episcopal School at the time an unthinkable accident took her life. Nabila was at swim practice at the Hillsboro Shute Park Aquatic & Recreation Center.
The Liberty High School swim team, which Nabila was on despite being a freshman at Oregon Episcopal School, finished practice in the facility's outdoor pool when the coach asked the team to unfurl covers on the pool. It was during this action that things went wrong.
The heavy covers used for the pool create suction when rolled onto the water. Nabila was among several swimmers who grabbed one end of the first cover and swam to the deep end. The teammates then swam under the first cover to get the second one from the other side of the pool.
They swam with the second cover to the deep end, putting it next to the first cover. They then swam under the second cover to get out of the pool. None of the team members realized Nabila had not resurfaced.
Swimmers and coaches left the facility and turned off the lights after the pool was covered. Nabila's mother, Patricia Maazouz, was waiting in the parking lot to pick her daughter up when she realized she didn't come out with the rest of her team, according to KOIN.
Patricia went inside to ask facility staff and the coaches where her daughter was. She searched the property with them and was there when Nabila's body was discovered under the pool covers.
Nabila's family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit seeking $70 million. They believe that her death was the result of negligence on a number of different fronts and have addressed them in the lawsuit.
Universal Filtration Inc., the manufacturer of the ThermGard pool covers used that night, and BK Reilly & Co., the seller of the cover doing business as The Pool and Spa House, have been named as defendants in the lawsuit. The family argues the covers are "unreasonably dangerous" and lacked "adequate warnings regarding the dangers associated with the use of the cover."
The Hillsboro Parks & Recreation Department and Hillsboro School District are also named for negligence in allowing the covers to be used without proper training for swimmers and staff, and for not having lifeguards on duty, let alone staff who would notice a swimmer missing.
Hillsboro School District and city officials have made changes since Nabila's death. Facility staff handle covering the pools after swim practices. They now provide a lifeguard or designated coach with lifeguard certification at every practice.
"Our hearts remain with the Maazouz family and everyone in our community who has been devastated by the tragic death of Nabila," said Patrick Preston, a city spokesperson, in a statement.
"The City of Hillsboro is committed to caring for the safety and well-being of all community members at all city facilities. Because this is pending litigation, we will not be issuing additional comments."
For Nabila's family, the lawsuit reopens the wounds of their loss, although they hope it will serve a greater purpose.
"The thing that makes it so bad is that Nabila's death was preventable," Patricia noted.
"We hope this lawsuit will make changes in the aquatic industry to prevent further tragedy from happening.
"We continue living every parent's worst nightmare. Those responsible need to be held accountable, and we don't ever want another family to go through what we are going through."
Nabila is remembered by those who love her as having a love for space exploration, astronomy, writing, and swimming. Her dream was to become a NASA astronaut, and she even tied for third place in a NASA Langley Research Center art contest about a year before her death.
