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This is a scary story starring my daughter Annabelle. I’m telling it as a warning about kids, pools and swimsuits because I don’t want anyone else’s kids to end up in the ER or the ICU, like she did for two days. 1/
She’s 5. She and her big sister Ruby, who’s 7-1/2, love mermaids. So when we got an inflatable pool for the driveway for our isolated summer, we also ordered mermaid outfits. Aren’t they cute? Two-piece swimsuits with matching tails.
And here’s the pool. That’s Annabelle stepping out — water was only up to her legs. We know to be careful and we know kids can drown in anything and we know to watch them ... and still, things can happen. 3/
Sunday afternoon, the mermaids were in the pool. I was in the kitchen overlooking the pool, window open so I could hear them, looking at them every minute or two. Then Ruby came inside and told me calmly that Annabelle was underwater, and wasn’t moving, so she pulled her out. 4/
Is this a prank? No. Really? Swear to God. I looked outside — Annabelle was lying on the ground next to the pool, arms inside her mermaid tail, not moving. 5/
I ran outside. I hoped it was a prank. She was lying exactly like a TV mermaid washed up on the shore. But when I picked her up, her eyes were wide open and she didn’t react. 6/
My God — she’s dead. Then she coughed a little. Her eyes didn’t change. How long was she under? Is this what no oxygen to the brain looks like? I took a CPR class when Ruby was born — what do I do again? 7/
