Well we almost had a major accident this Sunday............Our friends were going to have a pool party on the 4th,But with the cool temps and rainy conditions no one made it out.......FF to Sunday afternoon,85* and a wonderful day and we decide to have a get toghter and go swimming.......I havent been in a pool in around 6-7 years but thats about to change.........As a few kids and adults were milling around the pool area my 3 year old Grandaughter(She was at Byron) is jumping off the sides of the pool and generaly messing around,She had been swimming for 45 minutes buy now,She has those floaty things that go around her arms and has been off the diving board no fewer than 10 times with no problems..........Then it happens,instead of jumping off and having her arms in the out postion she ends up with them pointing right straight up and hits the water with hardly a splash...........The floatys both pop straight out the water and she goes like down like a anchor.......Literal I dont know how I moved as fast as I did but I jumped into the fricken pool in all my clothes got beneath her and brought her up to the surface before she even knew that there was trouble,No one saw what happened just the huge splash as I hit the water.............I struggled to the shallow end and thats when she said "Granpa so you ARE going to go swimming with me!" All the while with a big ole grin on her face..........Then I relized that I still had my wallet and cell phone in my pockets...............Not good but replacable.............Please watch those kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

As they say, only looked away for a second. Good job paying attention. Glad no harm.

 

Good advice, Glad you reacted quickly.

 

Good to hear that she is ok. It is definitely important to watch kids around a pool, BBQ grill, in a garage, etc.

 

Damn those type of things happen so quickly. Glad you saw it and reacted so fast and everything turned out ok.

 

My son at the age of 5 saved his 3 year old cousin. He was in the pool with a life preserver on, when his cousin fell in. Luckly it was next to him. he grabbed him and held him to we got there. His father got there quickly no more than 10 sec. but scary.
Larry

 

I took my son and daughter out on my Baja speedboat....we went to an area we frequently go to on the weekends and there were about 10 or 15 boats. Its a place we call the sandbar due to the shallow depth of the water and we often set a volleyball net there and play. Someone always has the tunes going and people attempt to get about as polluted as the lake. I just got there my son wa wearing his lifejacket and decided as we pulled up to tear it off and jump in. You can guess what happened next. As the 3rd wave hit him he was gasping for air, I had to jump in with my shirt on, wallet in pocket and cellphone in pocket. After I grabbed him and got him back on the boat I suddenly discovered my wallet had come right outta of my pocket. We looked for the wallet for a half hour and gave up, took the boat back and loaded it back on the trailer. 1st time in 30 years I had ever lost my wallet, and the worse part was I had booked a week at a timeshare a mile from Disney the week after this incident. Losing my debit card was like cutting my right arm off. I had to carry cash all week and pay for everything in the green stuff. But through all this I guess the bottom line is at least my son was there to enjoy Disney. Oldsdroptop

 

BTT for a yearly reminder.......

 

My grandfather did the same for me when I was a kid.

I jumped out of the rowboat, expecting the known depth of about four feet in that part of the lake, but must have landed in a hole or something, because I just kept going down.
Next thing I knew all 280 pounds of him was under me, and I was going up.
I was a bit surprised, as I hadn't realized I was in trouble yet. I think I told him I'd been fine and he didn't need to do that, and I'm sure I never thanked him (too late now...).

I still don't know how the hell he did it.

And, yes, in the days of paper documents, it took days for everything in his wallet to dry.

- Eric

edit: whoa!! old thread!

 

All the experts warn that those arm floats are not safe. I suspect for exactly the reason your granddaughter experienced.

Glad you can laugh about it though - it is funny how kids manage to always get themselves into those situations.....it's like they do it on purpose!!!!!

To paraphrase Art Linkletter - Kids do the darndest things !

 

So many parents just let kids run around without supervision and then blame a pool owner when something happens. This is the best advice one can give to a parent or guardian, thoose little boogers are quick. BTW, the reaction by your grandbaby was classic. My son was not yet 2 when we were staying at a Disney resort. I was in the pool with my then 6 year old daugther, when my wife screamed and I heard a splash. My son had jumped in and sunk like a stone. He was sitting on the bottom, air coming out his nose and mouth, with an ear to ear smile. I pulled him up and handed him to his mother. Two minutes later, repeat. The upside, he started competing in US Swim meets at 4 and became a national class swimmer before giving up swimming to run in college.

 

Looks like this older thread was revived but no harm as it's a good reminder. As was mentioned, kids are very quick and very clever so extra care needs to be taken around pools. Sadly, many people don't seem to understand this. Just had an incident in MD where a family was having a party and several people were in the pool including kids. A 6 year old went under and no one noticed until it was too late. Very tragic.

I still remember as a kid of 11 years old finding a small boy at the bottom of a pool. We were on vacation at the Jersey shore, returned to the hotel about 4:30 in the afternoon and my brothers and I went swimming in the outdoor pool in which the water was cloudy. At the 12' depth, it was really cloudy. Diving off the board, I touched what felt like a shirt and we though someone was at the bottom of the pool and mentioned it to our parents. At the same time someone from the hotel staff was going room to room so my parents inquired what was going on. They said a 2 year old boy had been missing since 11:00am. My mom said check the pool. Sure enough, that was the boy. They needed a diver to get him out as he was stuck on the drain. I'll never forget the anguish from that boy's mother when they pulled the boy out of the water. It was absolutely horrible to see. Hope she sued as that water should have been clear. Still remember the name of the place and it's been over 40 years.

 

All pools require 2 drains now so this doesn't happen. In addition some places require a cut off valve if one of the drains gets plugged. I don't run my bottom drains for circulation when the kids are in the pool although I've been under there with the bottom drains on full circulation & there isn't enough suction with the raised drains to keep even a child down.

We use a life jacket similar to arm floaties with my 2 year old. It's got a strap across the back to hold the arm floaties and an additional float on the front to keep the child upright if they fall in. It's a USCG approved PFD.

Thanks for bringing it back up Jerr. I remember the story & we didn't have a pool when you first posted it.

 

You was very luck!

 

Just a BTTT reminder,We just had a 4th of July blowout and thought I would get people thinking........it can take less than 10 seconds for a young person to suck in a lungful of water,Blackout and be gone...........10 seconds........................................... ...................Thats all the time it takes.........And there gone forever..........

 

We have one of those above ground pools and my 6 year old frequently gets mad at us as he wants to get into the water and "no one will watch him" I am very thankful that he doesn't get in on his own. and when someone is in with him or watching him before he even gets wet he puts on his life jacket. Yes he can stand in the pool the water is right up to his chin. (and no it is not full depth of the pool.

 

What does a drowing person look like - common misconception is flailing and screaming which is entirely wrong. You can't make a sound with a lung full of water, plus you lose bouyancy. Your arms try to push against the water, not wave for help, as you quietly sink.

Yes, I'm a paranoid boat and pool owner. Kids wear real life jackets in lakes where you can't see more than a few feet down. Adults stay diligent and sober.

 

Clicking the like button! Good points!