The weather has been nothing short of glorious over the past few days, and those of us living near a pool or a beach have been lucky enough to cool down with a swim.
While the children absolutely love playing in the water with their floaties, a chilling piece of footage has proven exactly why we, as parents, need to keep a watchful eye at all times.
The footage, captured by LiveLeak, shows four young children swimming in the kiddies’ pool, which is built on to the main pool. Two older girls are seen splashing about, while two younger children sit in floaties.
As the older girls enjoy a swim, however, from our birds-eye view we spot one of the children getting into major trouble. In a matter of seconds, the blue floatie tips over, leaving the child sitting in it struggling under the water.
As he kicks and splashes, trying to turn the floatie over and get some air, one of the little girls who is leaving the pool finally spots him and rushes to his aid. Thankfully, it looks like the tot is OK.
The most frightening thing about this footage, presumably captured on the pool’s security camera, is that not only did this incident happen in a matter of mere seconds but the child was drowning in shallow water.
The video has been shared on a number of parenting sites, with the eye-opening footage proving just how quickly accidents can happen and how vigilant we need to be.
It also raises the issue of what kind of equipment is safe for our children to use in the water. While floaties have sky-rocketed in popularity in the past year or so, with people posing on giant inflatable swans and pizza slice lilo-beds, we need to choose carefully. The floatie seen in this footage restricted the child far too much to be safe.
So, after watching this video, be sure to share it with a fellow parent – you never know who you could be helping.
The emergence of the video comes in the same month that parents have been raising awareness about dry drowning, which has claimed the lives of a number of children.
Dry drowning occurs where, hours or even days after you swallow water, you begin to experience severe side-effects including major breathing difficulties, chest problems, diarrhoea and chest problems. In some cases, it can prove fatal.
