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Just awful..Girl disemboweled in pool

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by boots, Jul 5, 2007.

  1. boots

    boots New Member

    This could happen to anyone.
    http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2007/07/05/seroka.mn.wading.pool.terror.kare
     
  2. A case John Edwards is best known for winning during his legal career in NC was just like this one.
     
  3. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

    I read that this morning... poor kid might have to go the rest of her life being fed with an IV tube...
     
  4. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    It's not loading for me right now. What's the gist of the story? She drink chlorine or something?
     
  5. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

    Pool-drain accidents improbable, officials say

    While Abigail Taylor recovers from life-altering injuries, those who oversee water recreation offered reassurances on safety.

    By Maura Lerner, Star Tribune

    Pool operators around the Twin Cities sought Thursday to reassure the public that they've taken precautions to ensure that children won't get caught or stuck in pool drains and suffer injuries similar to what happened to a 6-year-old Edina girl last week.

    Meanwhile, Abigail Taylor was said to be awake, alert and preparing for more surgery, nearly a week after her devastating injury in a wading pool at the Minneapolis Golf Club.

    At the same time, Abigail is expected to be hospitalized for two weeks as a result of the bizarre incident, in which several feet of her intestines were pulled out by the suction of the wading-pool drain on June 29.

    She remains in serious condition at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis, where doctors removed what was left of her small intestine last Saturday. Today, doctors may insert a port, or connecting site, for a feeding tube, which she will likely need forever, said Robert Bennett, a lawyer for Abigail's parents, Scott and Kathryn Taylor of Edina.

    Her father has said that, if she ever eats again, she may only get 10 percent of her nutrition from food, Bennett said.

    "It's a medical miracle that she even survived," Scott Taylor told KARE-11 News.

    Abigail's family has blamed the accident on a missing or loose cover that allowed the girl to be trapped by the powerful suction of the pool drain. Officials at the Minneapolis Golf Club did not return repeated phone calls on Thursday, and the club's lawyers could not be reached for comment.

    Changes minimize danger

    A 2005 report by the Consumer Product Safety Commission warned that if a child sits on an uncovered pool drain, the suction can rupture the rectum and "eviscerate [disembowel] the child" in seconds. At least three such cases have been reported to federal authorities since 1990.

    A similar case in North Carolina became one of the biggest victories of presidential candidate John Edwards' legal career. A girl disemboweled by a defective swimming pool drain received a $25 million settlement in 1997.

    But pool officials in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Anoka County and elsewhere say that most modern wading pools have been designed to prevent children from getting stuck in drains.

    "We were aware of this situation for a number of years that the drains can be a problem," said Bette Fenton, YMCA spokeswoman for Minneapolis and St. Paul. "All of our new pools have multiple drains. ... So the potential for it to be a problem is significantly minimized. And then we check our pools regularly. Every pool gets checked every day."

    In St. Paul, drain covers at the two public swimming pools -- Highland Aquatic Center and Como Park -- are screwed down or are almost impossible to lift off, said Bob Bierscheid, the city's Parks and Recreation director.

    But if a drain cover somehow twisted free, he added, the entire pool system would shut down.

    "These kinds of tragedies can happen in a variety of settings," he said of the Minneapolis Golf Club accident. "To happen in [our] system, it would be almost unbelievable."

    One club e-mails members

    At the Bunker Beach Water Park in Coon Rapids, the wading pool was specially designed to have multiple drains and larger grates, so a child can't cover it completely and get sucked in, said Kevin Symens, the manager. "Our pools are not going to be susceptible to that," he said.

    The problem, he said, may be with "older pools that haven't been renovated."

    The Minneapolis Parks Board, which operates 61 wading pools, sent out a systemwide e-mail telling staffers that city pools don't have "high pressure/suction that would result in this type of injury." They were urged to share that information with the public.

    The Edina Country Club, meanwhile, sent e-mails to members after Abigail's accident. "I'm sure that many of you have concerns regarding our pool," wrote Pam Lehan, the clubhouse director. She said Edina's wading pool, built in 2003, has more than one drain, and an automatic shut-off valve just in case. And two engineers check the tot pool daily, "to err on the side of caution."

    Staff writer Anthony Lonetree contributed to this report. Maura Lerner • 612-673-7384 • mlerner@startribune.com
     
  6. melock

    melock Well-Known Member

    What a brave girl to want this to be known so it doesn't happen to others. Now I hope her and her family sue those bastards for every damn cent they have.
     
  7. SockPuppet

    SockPuppet Active Member

    When I clicked this link I assumed "disembowled in pool" meant that the girl had died.
    GOOD LORD. I can't imagine that happening in this manner to a 6-year-old girl. Absolutely gruesome.
    Prayers and best wishes to her.
     
  8. markvid

    markvid Guest

    That is beyond brutal.
    A little 6-year old has to go through that?
    Yeah, life's fair.
     
  9. melock

    melock Well-Known Member

    I wonder if that would be your reaction if that was your little girl.
     
  10. melock

    melock Well-Known Member

    Oh yeah, accidents are when your dog shits on your rug, you bump someone's car backing out of a parking spot or spilling some milk on the floor.

    A little girl getting disemboweled in a pool is not an accident; it's carelessness by the pool's owners and operators.
     
  11. KG

    KG Active Member

    OMG that is just horrible! I didn't even know it was possible for intestines to be sucked out of your body like that. That poor little girl!
     
  12. Birdscribe

    Birdscribe Active Member

    Jesus, Mary and Joseph, this is horrific. :'( I hate reading stories like this.

    Someone mentioned the John Edwards case of several years ago. Aside from wondering WTF is going on with pool drains where something like this can happen -- not once but more than once -- wasn't this the case where that arrogant, foppish douchenozzle Tucker Carlson took a shot at Edwards for winning this case on behalf of the girl?
     
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