OT small kids in pool

Riverslim

Member
My 4 yr old grandson slipped into the pool before he got his flotation device on. What I am posting is that he did not utter one sound. He was entirely consumed with the life and death struggle to stay afloat. He did not have presence of mind to yell. Do not assume you will hear a holler for help. Yes, thank God I turned around & saw what was going on. Shame on me for being so careless.
 
My son did that with me watching when he was little and went straight to the bottom. I'll never forget the look on his face, eyes wide open looking up for someone to get him.
 
Have to agree, shame on you and his parents and any other adult there. When I am around my grandkids or ANY other small kids where a pool (kiddy size on up) I watch them all. True, not my actual responsibly, BUT, Yeah it is !
 
It is so quick that stunned is about all there is. We had our son in the water at 4 months. By 3 he was a fish. We had friends that had issues with their children. Swimming and self saving is missing from millions of children in the US. Jim
 
Yes, it is a silent killer!

Another one of the myths that have been embedded in our minds by TV and movies.

There is no chance for thrashing and yelling, just silent disappearance!

Be careful out there!
 
That will scare the heck out of you!!!! It can happen in the blink of an eye too. All my kids could swim before they could walk. My first wife loved water. I can swim but don't like the water. Thanks to her the kids learned to swim.
 
I'm so glad your little grandson is OK!

Most likely he could not yell...
I nearly drowned when young. I could not yell, my mouth was full of water. When you try to yell, all that comes out is a gurgle.

I think I would not be here today - except that my oldest brother saw me come up thrashing, and then saw me sink back under. He ran down the hill, dove in and pulled me out of the water and clapped me on the back which made me cough and throw up.

It can happen in the blink of an eye.
 
We had a safety video at work. The expert on the video about drowning said that is one way to know someone is truly drowning, they cannot yell for help.
 
Happens fast. Glad he is ok. Wife and I took the kids to Florida, 4 and 6 yr olds. Stayed in a camp ground. She went and got lunch. Sitting in the little fenced courtyard eating, me in jeans and a shirt. I look up and see a 4 or 5 year old [not mine] run straight in the far end of the pool.his mother is right there but back to him and talking. I sat there about 15 seconds when I realized she didn't see him. Started running maybe 20 yards, hurdled a 4 ft fence, dove in the shallow end and swam to the deep end to get him. Pulled him out, and she started yeling at me. Ask where I was going with her kid, why I had him in the deep end. She never knew he went in.
Again, glad GS is ok.
 
We were camping back when my oldest was about three years old. He and my wife and second son were on the beach, I swam out to the raft in the lake. As I returned, the three yo ran out to meet me- into the water. He could swim and had had lessons at the YMCA, etc. What he didn't quite understand was that the lake is not like a pool, but gets deeper, not sharply, but still. He just ran right in, up over his head. I was just far enough away, that as I swam/ran in he went straight down, about a foot over his head. Like others have said, he was just standing there drowning, looking right up at me! Probably only five seconds, but seemed like five minutes. Of course, everything came out fine, we were terrified for a few minutes, he was back in the water in no time.
 
A woman I know her husband got in trouble she was small he was a big guy over 6 ft try as she could she couldn't save him . Maybe with training who knows but that day she seen her husband drown in front of her leaving her 3 kids to take care of.
 
(quoted from post at 19:30:13 07/24/16) Have to agree, shame on you and his parents and any other adult there. When I am around my grandkids or ANY other small kids where a pool (kiddy size on up) I watch them all. True, not my actual responsibly, BUT, Yeah it is !

You apparently have super human powers of concentration. You never get distracted?
 
One thing to warn kids/grandkids about on natural bodies of water:
is to cautiously check the depth out BEFORE running/diving-in.

That's how I nearly drowned - because I ran in, expecting it to be waist deep a long distance from the shoreline. That little lake had been dredged out since we were there the previous summer. So I ran in expecting shallow... hit the drop-off from their dredging and things turned bad in an instant.
 
Thank God your grandson is OK. I would say it probably isn't just water. There are many ways for kids to get hurt and so many of them happen in the blink of an eye. Keep an eye out for those little ones!
 
Gives me cold chills just to think about it....I'm like a mother hen around kids, mine or not. My mom was the same way. Glad all is well.
 
Panic is what gets people, and kids. It is just the way we are made. I sure would not be immune to it. I have been in a few tight spots and it is really tough to keep your cool.

Use to scuba, back in my younger, wilder days.

I was in under some docks, looking for a friends wallet. About 20 foot deep. Docks blotted out the sunlight, plus the stirred up mud made for zero visability. You could hold your hand up in front of your mask and see nothing.

Searching along by feel, I felt a leg, all mushy and squichy. Thought I had found a dead body!! Come to find out it was an old pair of blue jeans filled with mud. I decided to come up quickly though.

Friend found his wallet under the sofa cushions.

Gene
 
I'll agree it can happen in a second. My daughter was about 4 and playing in the pool with her cousins. My wife and I were standing right there watching all of them. My daughter was jumping up and down in the shallow end. As she bounced up, she would drift out a little deeper and she didn't know the floor sloped down. She bounced once too many times and went out a good bit all at once. Under she went and I was standing there watching it happen. I still see her little eyes looking up under the water. I couldn't reach her from the edge. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and jumped in to pull her up. None of the other kids knew what was happening. It happened so quick she was just holding her breath but I know she couldn't get out of that. Filled my wallet with water and my clothes but she was none worse for the wear. Went right back to playing but had a better fear of the deeper side of the pool.

I did the exact same thing when I was young and couldn't swim yet but in a natural lake. Each bounce pulled me out a little deeper and thankfully my sister saw me go under. No parents around but the bigger kids watched us pretty close. We all survived somehow. Drowning can happen in seconds.

Thankfully your little one was safe!
 
Read all these replies and seems a lot of people have had bad experiences with water. So did I . Was 9 years old, brother 7. We went fishing in a small river for bullheads. Well, water was running really high in the spring. He slipped and fell in. I got down where he went in and of course slipped in also. Neither one of us knew how to swim but I think I learned a bit about it right then and there. I got out, he was in the middle hanging onto a tree branch. He told me to go get the neighbor kid who was older. I said, no I could not leave. I don't know what happened next, he got out. We went home and caught more hell than I ever did in my life. Mom made us change clothes right out in the yard. Then later dad came home and we caught it again. I guess we didn't understand their real concerns at that time. Later that year we both learned how to swim in that river, but not when the water was high.
 
My son was really little. Walking age. Wife may of had him swimming before this ? But while at uncles pond fishing from shore he slipped and went in he was calm and maybe half floating with his front end ? leg was still on or near shore ? I can't swim but ran over there and grabbed his leg and hoisted him up and out. That scared him worse than falling in ! Uncle still remembers it.
 

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