Because of a powerful open suction drain in a wading pool, a 6-year-old girl will have to receive nutrition through an intravenous tube for the rest of her life. The suction caused a 2-inch tear in her rectum and pulled out much of her intestines. Doctors had to remove the part of remaining intestines.
Although some details of the accident are still fuzzy, it is known that Abigail was able to free herself from the drain and get out of the pool on her own without calling for help. As a result, the extent of her injuries wasn't immediately evident to the people near her.
Apparently the swimming pool's drain tube was improperly covered. The pool manager said he didn't think there was a problem.
The scenario of the injury fits a pattern that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission warned about in a 2005 report, Guidelines for Entrapment Hazards: Making Pools and Spas Safer. According to the report, if a child sits on an open drain, the suction, which can reach several hundred pounds per square inch, can rupture the rectum and eviscerate the child in a matter of seconds. Do you need a Pennsylvania lawyer to handle a personal injury settlement?
There have been three such incidents since 1990. The most recent was two years ago when a 3-year-old was disemboweled by a hot tub drain.
None of those accidents was fatal, although in the same time span 13 people, most of them children, drowned after being caught in underwater drains.
Abigail's injury comes as Congress is considering new pool-safety regulations. Instead of having one main drain, both public and private pools would be required to have multiple drains with reduced suction.
Owners of existing pools would be able to install safety release sensors that will turn off the suction if it the system is blocked.
Several states have passed pool safety laws after children drowned or were disemboweled by drain suction. North Carolina, for instance, requires pools to have dual drains to diffuse the force of the suction and prevent children from being trapped.
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