Is Your Pool Safe?

A blogger from Brazil dropped by my blog for a visit recently. Her name is Odele Souza. This was her comment:

"Hello, I am Brazilian. I arrive here because I read your comment in David Santos' blog. My blog, Flavia, Vivendo em Coma (Flavia, living in Eats) is dedicated to my daughter Flavia, who is in coma for more than nine years. The blog is written in Portuguese but you can read it in English or another language, just clicking on the right flag. The translation is not so good but helps. Thanks for your attention. ... "

I visited her blog and used the computer translation (note to self: learn more languages!). My heart went to bits reading about her daughter's condition. I still could not understand what caused Flavia to be in a coma until yesterday when Odele posted a story about a young girl, named Abigail Taylor, who nearly died in an awful pool accident.

I wanted to share Flavia's story but I did not want to give out any wrong information based on the computer translation. I had to ask Odele for her help. Here's what she said:

"The translation services on the blog is not any great prize, and because of this you didn't understant the whole story about Flavia. When I mention the accident with Abigail is because of the same reason. I meam, both Flavia and Abigail had been victims of a filtration system of a pool, - with problem.

On January 06, 1998 Flavia was swimming in the pool of the building were we lived, whem the filtration system of the pool got Flavia's hair under water, and this happened because of the strong suction of the drain, that lately was proved had problem. Abigail like Flavia, were victim of negligence. If the filtration system is in order nothing happens with people while swmming, but if on the contrary, the filtration system is not in order, it can be very dangerous to be in the pool.

It is important to protest against this kind of negligence and clain for justice. That is what I am trying to do with Flavia'a blog: Clain for justice, because till now, ten years after the accident that left Flavia in Coma, the responsible for the negligence with the drain didn't pay for nothing. It is also important to alert people for this kind of danger in the pools.

In spite of my English is not any great prize too, I hope you can understand now a litlle more about Flavia and Abigail accident...."

This is an excerpt of Abigail's story from Kare11 News, Minneapolis:

"Abigail Taylor is what doctors call a medical miracle. The six-year-old is sitting up, talking and fully aware that she nearly died last Friday in a horrific pool accident at the Minneapolis Golf Club's Kiddie Pool. Abigail sat on the drain at the bottom of the pool and doctors say her bottom created suction on the drain. They say the strength of the suction from the drain pulled part of her small intestines out of her rear end. Her mom says Abbey somehow pulled herself off the drain and out of the pool before collapsing into the deep end of the regular pool."

Read more here.

This is an excerpt from Baltimore's WJZ's report:

"In some pools, the suction is strong enough to pull your insides out.

That's the disturbing reality for a six-year-old in Minnesota girl. There's a push for tougher pools safety laws to stop it from happening in Maryland. Mike Hellgren reports little Abigail Taylor has bright brown eyes and a big smile, but she will never be the same again after a pool drain in a swimming pool sucked out her intestines and ended up in the filter.

"She more or less blacked out, she passed out, fell face-first onto the pool decking," said her father Scott Taylor.The suction ripped a hole in her rectum. She'll have to be fed through a tube and will have to wear a colostomy bag for the rest of her life."It never even crosses anybody's mind that potential at the bottom of that pool is enough force to literally disembowel a child, an adult," said Scott Taylor"

Read more here.

Since 1990, 170 people--mostly children--have been caught in drains and 27 of them have died. (File) CBS

(Picture from wjz.com)

Odele Souza added:

".. To read more about Abigail'story in Google search "Abigail Taylor accident pool" and you can read the story in English. About Flavia unfortunately what exists till now is only in Portuguese, so you can help telling also her story in your country.

As I told you, both accidents happened because of the strong suction of the filtration system in the pool were the girls - Flavia and Abigail were swimming. I am very concerned about Abigail because I am afraid she can stay like my daughter Flavia, who is still unconscious, even ten years after the accident. ..."

In case you are wondering how a swimming pool works, you can read about it here.