With summer finally here after an extremely long winter and spring, everyone is ready for some relaxation and fun. We’ve all had a pretty long couple of months with the coronavirus pandemic keeping us locked inside. Now, with the sun shining and the curve flattening, everyone is ready to play outdoors. Summer, of course, means that pool season is finally here, too.
Some families are fortunate enough to have pools in their backyard.
Whether it’s an in-ground pool, an above ground pool, or just one of the good old fashion blow-up pools — kids love to swim. Many people are getting a pool this year to avoid going to public pools and beaches, too.
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Of course, with pools come pool accessories and toys.
Many young kids don’t just want to swim — they also want to play with pool toys at the same time. Fortunately, the pool toy market is pretty large and there’s something for everyone.
One popular pool accessory that young girls can’t get enough of are mermaid tails.
Many children companies are marketing mermaid tail swimsuits so that young children can feel like Princess Ariel in the water while they swim away all summer long. They come in a variety of colors and sizes.
These swimsuits and accessories bind the feet together inside of the tail, making it hard to move or kick your feet.
Despite the binding, many kids are still in love with the swimsuit and want to wear it when going to the pool. Of course, the binding of their feet does put them at risk when swimming.
Now, one father is speaking out after his daughter nearly drowned in their pool while wearing her mermaid tail swimsuit.
Adam Lisberg spoke out about his daughter’s incident that occurred in June. The family had purchased a blow-up kiddie pool for their driveway that was only two-feet deep. However, accidents can still happen.
Lisberg said his two daughters were playing in the pool.
Annabelle, five, and Ruby, seven, were playing in the kiddie pool when Lisberg’s young son needed help in the kitchen making guacamole. While Lisberg says he always watches his daughters like hawks in the pool, he ran inside to help his son for a moment.
He had heard the girls playing outside, screaming and making noise.
However, Ruby soon came inside and said that Annabelle wasn’t moving. He rushed outside and saw his daughter stiff and almost lifeless.
“But when I got over to her, her eyes were wide, she wasn’t moving, and at first I really thought she was dead,” he said.
Ruby told her dad that they were playing and Annabelle wasn’t moving in the water.
“Ruby explained that Annabelle had been under the water and she saw her there and was trying to talk to Annabelle, but she wasn’t responding. She got her sister completely out of the water. It was incredible,” Lisberg said.
Apparently, Annabelle had been playing “potato” where she put her arms and legs inside of her mermaid tail.
She fell into the pool and was unable to remove her arms from her tail to get herself out. She went into shock when she realized what was going on.
The incident landed Annabelle in the ICU for two days to recover.
While Annabelle made a fully recovery, Lisberg hopes that the family’s story can help parents understand that not all swimsuits and pool toys are safe. In fact, doctors are saying they’re anything but.
Dr. Suzette Oyeku, chief of the Division of Academic General Pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in Bronx, New York says that the mermaid tails are dangerous for children around pools.
“If (a toy or swimsuit) constrains their legs or arms and they are not able to float, then that can be a safety hazard for them.
Any kind of device going into the pool that will obstruct a child’s ability to wade through the water is not advisable. … (The swimsuits) are definitely cute, but it constrains their ability to move and can cause drowning,” she told Today.
h/t: The Today Show
