A mum has shared an urgent warning to parents about the dangers children can encounter in swimming pools, ahead of the summer holidays.
Alex Morgan explained that her family had been to Lanzarote in the Easter holidays. Her six-year-old daughter, Darcey, was swimming in the hotel’s pool when her hair got sucked into the filter that operated the waterfall.
This caused Darcey to get stuck and she was unable to swim up to the surface.
“She was kept under the water for over two minutes,” the mum wrote on Facebook on 30 May.
“Some incredibly brave people saved our little girl’s life that day. Her hair was pulled and pulled before it was ripped. Darcey was unconscious and had to be given CPR at the poolside.”
The mum explained Darcey was immediately taken to a nearby hospital where she underwent X-rays, tests and was under close observation.
Morgan said Darcy’s oxygen levels were low and she had a lot of fluid on her right lung.
“Luckily we got to bring Darcey out of hospital the following morning,” the mum wrote. “However, it could have been a completely different ending to our holiday.
“This was the worst day of our lives. We are still suffering to come to terms with it all now but also feel incredibly lucky to still have our beautiful, brave little girl.”
A large amount of Darcey’s hair was removed from the filter after the incident.
“We want to make as many people aware of the dangers in swimming pools as we feel so strongly about this,” Morgan continued.
“Myself and Gareth [partner] don’t want any other parents or family members to go through what we experienced that day.
“We will never get over what happened but if this post can raise some awareness, save someone’s life, then we will be happy.”
Morgan’s post has been shared nearly 130,000 times in three days.
“Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention,” one parent wrote. “It is posts such as this that can save children’s lives.”