Warning! Keep them within arm's reach!

This morning I took DD2 to the pool for her swimming lesson and we were playing in the water before it started. I looked to my left and a pre-schooler boy was tip-toeing along in the water with a floating barbell thing.

I turned to DD2 and when I looked back the boy had lost his grip on the floating thing and couldn't get his mouth and nose above the water. I could see the fear in his eyes as he was struggling to get a breath but all he could get was water. I raced over, grabbed his hand and lifted him up to the step at the edge of the pool. He had clearly taken on a lot of water and was coughing and vomiting up.

His mother didn't get to him for over a minute after that as she had 2 other children with her. The poor little boy was so scared and crying his eyes out. If I hadn't been there and looked around to keep an eye on him who knows what could have happened.

Parents PLEASE keep your children in arm's reach if they cannot swim strongly or touch the bottom of the pool flat footed and keep their mouth and nose above the water!

It only takes a couple of minutes for a child to drown - and I NEVER want to see a child like that again.

huge :hug:

Very scary isn't it? Hope your ok.

Oh how scary :-( but how lucky for this child that you were around... the sad thing is that for you to help this little guy you had to turn your back on your own child...

It is so scary when things like that happen. Glad you were there and the little boy was ok

I was in the ocean with a friend and our kids. We were sitting in our knees so not deep. her then not quite 6 yr old was swimming around us and as they always use floaties and my kids don't he asked to have his off..

Next minute I look at him and he is less then 30cm behind his mum and I thought thats not right. He was silent and terrified and only his eyes above the water (just) I grabbed him as quick as I could. If I hadn't looked over who knows. the water wasn't deep and we were right there but he didn't make a sound or splash..

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Oh how scary :-( but how lucky for this child that you were around... the sad thing is that for you to help this little guy you had to turn your back on your own child...

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I was holding DD2 on my hip so I just used my free arm to reach over and grab the boys hand.

Nic, that's the thing, drowning people make no sound so it's hard to know when it's happening.

Oh wow, that little boy is so lucky that you were there! Poor thing must have been so scared :(

Hope you are ok :hug:

Happens all the time at my work. There is no lifeguard on duty because its majority swim school with a small public swim section so parents are entirely responsible for their childs safety when they are swimming, ESP in the 25m pool. The amount of times we instructors have had to rescue kids way out of their depth because their parents arent watching them is ridiculous.

If your child cannot swim the length of a pool (25mtre) without a floatation device then they are DEFINATELY not ready to be unsupervised even for a minute; Nai brought up a good point about being tall enough to stand with their nose/mouth out of the water.

Thankgod you were there Nai!!

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Nic, that's the thing, drowning people make no sound so it's hard to know when it's happening.

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Exactly right. and I felt bad for the boy because the mum got such a fright she yelled at him for not calling out for help (she was scared) I explained to her later that he simply wasn't able to.. The body goes into fight mode and all efforts go into keeping the brain supplied with oxygen..

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Happens all the time at my work. There is no lifeguard on duty because its majority swim school with a small public swim section so parents are entirely responsible for their childs safety when they are swimming, ESP in the 25m pool. The amount of times we instructors have had to rescue kids way out of their depth because their parents arent watching them is ridiculous.

If your child cannot swim the length of a pool (25mtre) without a floatation device then they are DEFINATELY not ready to be unsupervised even for a minute; Nai brought up a good point about being tall enough to stand with their nose/mouth out of the water.

Thankgod you were there Nai!!

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It surprises me that your work can do that. I'd have though the parents supervision thing would my stand up in court - if the pool aren't providing supervision then they should not let kids in who are not in a lesson.

Wow, it's so lucky that you were there and that you looked around at the right time :hug:

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It surprises me that your work can do that. I'd have though the parents supervision thing would my stand up in court - if the pool aren't providing supervision then they should not let kids in who are not in a lesson.

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I think there is some law with our local council or government or something that means because they are the only pool within a certain amount of km's they HAVE to provide a minimum amount of space for public swimming. Which is two lanes. And they provide that but 99% of their money is made off of swimming lessons. I mean they have a lifeguard trained person on shift but not actually anyone watching kids swimming in the two public lanes. Most of the time its only children who are students of the swim school swimming at the pool in the public area before and after lesson. We have a policy that parents of children under 9 cannot leave their children unchaperoned, even for swimming lessons, too. The guardian must always be within the building.

huge hugs hun......i would have had a word to the mother of the little fella....

:hug: Oh hun that would have been sooo scary!!!!!

So good you saw it and saved him!

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Poor little guy.

So glad you were taking notice of what was happening around you. I'd hate to think what would have happened if you werent.

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So glad you were there to help the poor little boy, hate to think what could have happened.

Hugs to you how scary for you.

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and I NEVER want to see a child like that again.

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Nai, I feel so for you.

I have seen a vision similar - the next step really. My own son's limp body floating face down just under the surface of the water. I am so thankful for the bright blue board shorts that my DH chose for his swimmers. It all happened so fast (long story I do not feel like going too far into so no assumed judgements please). It is one of those memories where you just want to take a bottle of bleach and pour it in your ear, hoping it will wash it away.

:hug:

Keep them close indeed, but this also has the lesson I had learnt. Try not to bite off more than you can chew.

How scary, thank god you were there Nai!!!
Can I just add that if this ever happens to your child get them checked by a dr. A child can drown out of water hrs later if the water has been inhaled. Very scary! I saw it on Oprah where it happened to a little boy.

gotta love Oprah!

This did the rounds of FB a few months back. It's worth a read.
Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning

Far out onyx, that's a pretty scary read - but something so many more people should be aware of.

Nai, nic and honey, big hugs to you all for witnessing what you have, I'm so glad you were all able to save those kids :hug:

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Oh my goodness, how scary for you. Water & children just scares the living daylights out of me.
You saved that boy's life today Nai, you should be very proud of your quick thinking & sharp eye to detail!

That's so scary! How lucky you happened to be looking

Thanks for that Onyx.

Our pool has rules now that all children 7 and under (I think,might be a bit younger), must be within arms reach of the parent, so the parent can't let them play in the little pool while the mums all chat on the seat some distance away. I think it is a great idea, I am a bit paranoid about water and children.

Thanks for sharing that link Onyx & Nai, you must have been terrified.

This happened to my DH, me & our DD. DD has been enrolled in swimming lessons from about 7 or so months. We were at a resort type facility that had an indoor pool. We had finished swimming/playing and all were out of the pool. DH & I turned our back to the pool to dry ourselves (after drying DD) and pack up our belongings. After a few seconds, I turned around & there was DD under the water looking up at us just bobbing below the surface. We didn't hear a splash or any movement from her - we were very lucky that we saw her as quickly as we did and DH jumped in & pulled her out. Very scary.

Its very scary. :hug: It's lucky you were there. I almost drown with I was a kid. I was at the pool with the school. The teachers didn't notice at all, it was a high school student who ended up pulling me out. It was so scary, I have never forgotten it. I don't know if I will ever be able to trust my kids in the care of a school at the pool.

Thank goodness you were there and took action quickly!

Our local pool has a policy where they issue children under 5 with armbands that say that they should never be more than arms reach from their guardian - a very good visual reminder to always be directly supervising them in or around the water.