The summer is full of a lot of fun and excitement. It is a time when children are off school and they are able to enjoy some time outdoors in the sunshine. One of the more popular summertime events is hitting the swimming pool and cooling off when the weather gets really hot. Many children will use pool noodles as they swim, splash about and enjoy some carefree time. Although it may seem as if it is completely innocent fun, there is an unknown danger that has the potential for harm.
This was experienced during a warm summer day what a woman named Lacey Grace was enjoying some time at the pool with her four-year-old daughter, Elianna. As the young girl was playing in her grandparent’s pool with a friend, they did the same thing that many children do. They played with pool noodles but on this particular day, a big gush of water shot up out of the noodle and straight down Elianna’s throat.
When things like this happen at the pool, many of us would simply laugh it off and consider it to be harmless fun. As you are about to discover, however, this was anything but harmless. It is something that every parent needs to know because it could involve their child’s life.
Lacey explained the situation: “Elianna was playing in the pool with a “pool noodle” on Saturday, and as many many children do every day, she was blowing in one end and blowing water out the other. By 100% freak accident, Elianna put her mouth to blow out at the same time someone blew in the other end, causing the water to shoot directly down her throat. She threw up immediately but didn’t really have any other notable things happen.”
There was no sign that anything was wrong, even on the following day. On the day after that, however, she developed a fever. Her mother really didn’t give it much thought and even sent her to school the following day but school called and said the fever had returned.
“I kept replaying that pool scene in my head and remembered reading a story last year about a Dad in Texas whose son passed away because he went untreated after swallowing a bunch of pool water. I wasn’t going to let that be Elianna.”
Lacey pick her daughter up at school and went straight to the doctor’s office. The doctors confirmed that her fears were accurate. It was then the things took a turn for the worse.
“We went from school to the urgent care, hoping the doctor would say “her lungs sound great, it’s just viral, etc”. We were there about 10 minutes when the doctor said to get her to the nearest ER as soon as possible. Her heart rate was crazy high, her oxygen was low, and her skin was turning purple which suggested chemical infection.”
They took an x-ray and showed that she had an infection and inflammation in her chest. It came from the pool chemicals. The doctors transported her to a larger hospital and she was monitored 24 hours a day.
“Elianna has aspiration pneumonia and is now on oxygen and relying on it to breathe. They’ve tried to remove the tubes and give her a chance to breathe on her own but her levels drop quickly. She’s had her second dose of antibiotic but we haven’t seen much relief yet.”
“Her fevers have continued. Her heart rate has lowered so that is the only good news so far. At least two doctors now have told us ‘thank God you got her here when you did.’ All the major things going wrong are things you would NEVER notice by looking at her.”
Lacey wants all parents to know that their children are in danger. They should follow up on this possibility and take the children to see a doctor if they notice something is wrong after they drink water.
“We don’t know how long the road will be but I thank my lucky stars that I read that article of the little boy. I will find that article and write that Dad a letter, I promise you. I would have never taken her to the urgent care without that and God only knows how this would have ended.”