Tragic Swimming Pool Accidents
Swimming pools are, for many people, a must when they’re searching for their ultimate holiday destination. They can be totally idyllic and lounging around a pool in the sun with a good book and good company has to be most […]
Swimming pools are, for many people, a must when they’re searching for their ultimate holiday destination. They can be totally idyllic and lounging around a pool in the sun with a good book and good company has to be most people’s idea of a dream holiday. However, swimming pools, or in fact any body of water, can be lethal especially with young children. Youngsters seem magnetically attracted to water and as so many children are curious with no sense of fear, the lure of a swimming pool is strong.
Unfortunately it seems that however closely you watch your children they will at some point elude your grasp and in those fatal moments anything could happen. Every parent must have lost track of their child for a few moments and usually the outcome is happy relief as the child is found playing in the next room or has just wandered over to another friendly family. However, in a sadly not-so-small number of cases, the outcome is every parent’s worst nightmare. Figures show that in 2008 there were 650 swimming pool accidents in the European Union every single day.
Last July a family had gone on what they hoped would be a relaxing and enjoyable summer holiday to a resort in Turkey. It is now a holiday they will never forget and one they will wish had never happened because of its tragic outcome. Lucy Cardwell was playing by the holiday pool in the resort of Dylan when she slipped and fell into the pool, hitting her head.
The two-year-old’s mother, Sophie, dived in to rescue her daughter as soon as she realised what had happened. Emergency doctors arrived and gave her artificial respiration before taking her to hospital. Lucy, who was from Whitley Bay in North Tyneside, was taken to four different hospitals and was put in intensive care but she died 3days later.
The tragedy occurred just a year after Lucy’s 15-year-old uncle, Daniel, died when he was swimming in a lake at Marden Quarry in Whitley Bay after he had been drinking with his friends in March 2007.
In the same month a similar accident occurred to Roisin Mairaid Fisher. The three-year-old was on the fifth day of her holiday with her family near the village of Competa in Spain. The accident followed an enjoyable family barbeque; Mr Fisher had gone inside to wash up while his wife sat outside with Roisin and their baby.
Mr Fisher, 43, a joiner from Eccles in Salford, said that Roisin “could not swim but always had water wings on. She would never be on her own. I cannot piece together what happened.” He added that he “went in to do the pots. Karen was outside with the baby. Roisin was sat on the patio and then that was it. That’s it. It all happened very quickly. It just seemed so tranquil, so quiet considering we have teenagers. Then I just went outside and that is when I found her in the pool under the water. I tried to resuscitate her. There was no noise. It was very quiet.”
Mr Fisher dived in once he saw his daughter in the pool. He attempted to resuscitate her but then, after calling an ambulance, he put her in the car and drove down a dirt track to meet the ambulance at the main road. However they were unable to save her and she was later pronounced dead.
After Detective Sergeant Alison Whittaker from Greater Manchester Police liaised with Spanish authorities an investigation concluded that there were no suspicious circumstance and a verdict of accidental death by drowning was recorded.
Alan Walsh, the deputy coroner for Bolton, described it as a “very tragic accident” adding that “you are clearly a very close family and a caring family. I am sure that you look after the children and the children look after each other. Sadly, it only takes a second for a child to go their own way and it appears to me that this is what happened. From the moment Roisin went towards the water, what happened then is not possible to say. She could have slipped or she could have fallen but there was no noise. I have great sympathy with you and sadness. It is unimaginable to lose a child, especially in these circumstances.”
The couple have six other children are understandably grieved at their loss. Mrs Fisher described Roisin as “amazing. We were so close and I miss her so much. We went to the villa because we thought that it would be safe. We will never go on a pool holiday again. With pools there should always be a warning to parents. Things can change in the blink of an eye.”