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Sunday, April 15, 2012

Near drowning experience...

At the risk of being judged by many, and even though I wasn't entirely sure I should write this post, I have decided to do it as a way to warn mothers of small children about the dangers of pools and drowning for little kids...
Yesterday I went through the most horrifying experience a mother can go through... I almost lost my daughter when she nearly drowned in a pool...It all happened so fast and was so incredibly scary...
This is how it happened:

We went to a pool party and Gaby was playing on the ledge watching her sister and other kids swim and enjoy the water...
I was watching her and warning her about not going further down... She did well for about an hour and focused on playing with some balls while I sat on the ledge next to her and snapped some pictures of her having fun and Olivia swimming...she seemed content and appeared to understand her limits...
Iggy and I watched for a while and kept taking turns to stand by her...she was pretty good about staying on her safe spot...
Then it's all a blur... I turned around to get a soda and saw her jump in the water and start to drown... I observed as she was submerging deep down and started screaming... For some reason my body didn't react and I froze as I was in shock from seeing her little body under the water... Someone at the party immediately jumped in the pool (with clothes on and all) and pulled my little daughter out of the water... She had swallowed a ton of water and immediately started throwing up, she didn't react for a second and then started crying frantically and hugging me not to let her go...It was the scariest experience I've ever gone through and I don't wish it on my worst enemy...(not that I have any enemies..but you get the point)...
Thankfully, the hand of God was there to save my daughter and keep her alive...thankfully, nothing happened and it was just a scare...thankfully, my daughter is with us today and I can hug her extra tight.
It can happen to anybody and this time it happened to us... this was a learning experience and something I wish never happens again...it happened in a matter of seconds and it could have been the worst day of our lives...thanks to God and the person that jumped in the pool, I can sit here and tell the story...
Moms, please be careful with your little ones around the pool... sign them up for swim lessons and know that crazy things can happen in a matter of seconds... It's not about being irresponsible or neglectful, it's about having kids that don't really understand the dangers around them...
I hope my story helps others and prevents similar tragedies...
Thank you, God... for always protecting my kids and for teaching us a lesson!

6 comments:

Sonia said...

Oh my goodness Adriana! :( You must have been so scared. You are right. Things can happen in a blink of an eye. Thank goodness you were able to scream as quickly as you did and that person jumped in. I know exactly what you mean about you freezing up. The same has happened to me when Solana was younger. I'm so glad that sweet Gaby is safe. Xoxo Sonia

Jamie Simpson said...

That is very scary!!! I'm so happy God had His hand on her and it wasn't worse!!!!

Faby "The Fat Girl Inside" said...

Adri how scary! I'm so glad she's OK. Que susto. I hope she doesn't develop a fear of water. You should put floaties "alitas" on her even if she's just sitting. Little ones are so slick, they will jump in the blink of an eye. Again, glad she's OK.

Matt, Kara, Hunter and Cavan said...

Oh how scary for you! Time for water wings!

Last summer I was standing in the pool and Cavan was sitting on the edge kicking the water. He kicked himself right off the edge and sand right to the bottom! I grabbed him out, he coughed and then laughed and said, "I'm a sinker mom!" I can see how fast it could happen!

Glad she is okay. :)

Lauren C. said...

You made me cry Adriana. I am so sorry your beautiful Gaby had to endure something like that. Thank you for sharing your story. Jereme and I saw a little girl come close to drowning a few summers back and it happened so, so quickly. Thank God your baby is alright.

Minna said...

Adriana! I'm soooo happy that Gaby is okay and you are so brave to share this story with all of us, thank you!