Leah’s Story
Leah Grace: our beautiful, spunky, full of life 2 year old mermaid! Here is your story: typicalThursday evening in the summer, Kids want to go swimming in their brand new pool! Leah was born on the water! Leah LOVED getting her life jacket on and buckling it up all on her own! She always screamed “I did it mommy.” (What I would do to hear that voice again). So she gets her jacket on and Leah and her brothers jump in the pool. Being typical kids, they swim for about 20 minutes before wanting to get out already! This time ALL THREE were done with the pool. As I’m preparing dinner, I get my children out of the pool (take off any floatation devices they may have on) and hand them a towel to dry off inside of the house. Once I was done with that, I started to prepare a pot of white rice (Leah’s favorite). I hollered for the kids to come into the kitchen so that I can make sure they were dry, get them into new clothes, and ready for dinner. Well, Jayden and Maison came but no Leah. I went into the garage where Charlie (Leah’s dad) was. I asked him if he had seen Leah, he said “she was just right here.” We both immediately stop what we are doing and ran around the house. By first look we didn’t see Leah in the pool, Charlie moved all of the pool floats out of the way, still no sign. It was then, that I felt a SHOCK throughout my entire body! Something I have never ever felt in my life! I heard your dad say “oh nooo” and then heard a splash, he jumped into the pool. There you were Leah Grace, trying to be a mermaid and swim all on your own. Daddy took you out of the pool and I immediately started CPR, a nearby neighbor then came and took over for me. We had a pulse! It was very faint but you had a pulse baby girl! Everything after that is still a blur to me, you were taken in an ambulance, and then got to fly on a helicopter ride! Your brothers were so jealous the next two days me, your dad, and SO MANY friends and family were at your bed side. Hoping, singing, praying that you would wake up. But test after test showed that because of the lack of oxygen to your brain, you had no movement. I can’t explain this feeling. It’s a feeling that ONLY a mother who has lost a child can feel, but I was thankful for the two days we got to spend with you! The rest is pretty much history!
….it took all my might to write this story! And I know it’s lengthy BUT Leah wants you all to know that you should NEVER EVER take any day of your life for granted! Your life can change in a matter of 5 minutes! I too thought, something like this would NEVER EVER happen to me … and then it did…..We as a family, strongly encourage all of you to spend AS MUCH time with your loved ones as you can! And MOST importantly BEFORE you think about purchasing a pool, DONT! Take that money you are going to spend and spend it on your children’s swimming lessons! I found out the hard way guys, please take this as a lesson from Leah and me! In Florida, it is SO important that your kids know how to float, and survive if god forbid, they were ever in an incident like this.
Sincerely,
A mom who will never be the same.
Application for Aquatic Survival Lesson Scholarships
Scholarships cover tuition for aquatic survival lessons offered by Swim With Becky and Friends, with a reduced registration fee. They are granted to Volusia County resident families who demonstrate financial hardship. Click here to see terms and apply.
