Child Almost Died From Pool Drain Injury

Jenny Albano

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Six year-old Abigail Taylor was seriously injured while swimming in a wading pool at the Minneapolis Golf Club in St. Louis Park. She lost several feet of her intestine which were pulled out by the suction of the swimming pool drain. Apparently, the protective cover that was supposed to be on the drain had come off.

She was taken to Children's Hospital where they removed the remaining part of the girl's intestine. Doctors said she will most likely have to be fed intravenously for the rest of her life. Doctors are now trying to prevent infection and manage the girl's pain.

Since 1990 there have been 3 other incidents involving open drains. The most recent was when a 3 year-old was disemboweled from a drain in a hot tub. None of the accidents were fatal. There have been 13 reported deaths since 1990 of people drowning after being caught in a pool drain.

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.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Defective and Dangerous Products.