Indiana Mom, Maribeth Leeson’s Plea About Water Safety Following Her Son’s Death Is A Must-Read
Indiana mom, Maribeth Leeson, is offering sobering advice to other parents after her son nearly drowned in a pool full of adults — none of whom noticed the boy was struggling.
July 20, 2019 is a day Maribeth Leeson will never forget in her life. Leeson was at a friend’s house swimming with her 5-year-old son, Adam, his brothers and sister, and other friends when she suddenly realized he wasn’t playing underwater but screaming for her to help.
Adam was pulled from the pool where a family friend immediately began CPR. Leeson wrote:
“This is happening. My funny, silly, sweet, handsome, artistic, thoughtful little blondie was dead. My son drowned 3 days ago. His limp, gray, lifeless body was pulled from the pool and it was every mother’s worst nightmare. He was dead. I heard screaming, and after a minute realized the screaming was coming from me.”
Leeson said as CPR continued that she thought about her other kids and what Adam’s death would do to them. She recalls the moments, which seemed like hours, with detailed accuracy. She continues:
“A million thoughts were flying through my head as I stumbled around, not knowing what I was doing, screaming.
I thought about his twin brother and how could his life go on without his twin. I saw my 10-year-old son, hysterically sobbing, in his bright blue swim trunks, his beautiful tan skin glistening with pool water still.
His life ruined because he just watched his brother die, drowned in the same pool where he was playing. I saw my sassy little 3-year-old daughter, in her pink unicorn and rainbow suit, just watching me, confused.”
Leeson recalls the fog around her brain as she watched everyone around her spring to action while she could just stand there — like she was in a dream. She said:
“It’s exactly like I’ve read other people say in emergency situations: I thought this must be a dream, one of those dreams that you wake up sweating from, short of breath, because it was so real.”
When reality finally hit her she ran to her little boy’s side, crying as she watched her friend performing CPR on his little body.
“I have no idea how long it was. 10 seconds? 3 minutes? I don’t know. He looked awful and perfect at the same time.”
Leeson recalls watching as Adam vomited water, still not breathing — and then, a miracle. She wrote:
“I don’t remember what it was at first, but he showed some sign of life because several people at the same time exclaimed, ‘There he is!’ and encouraged me to keep talking to him. My friend kept working. I kept talking. He started to open his eyes and another round of exclamation occurred.”
Eventually, they made it to the hospital where Adam was in the ICU for three days recovering.She shared:
“He is sitting beside me in bed right now playing with a stuffed puppy a friend brought to him and watching Captain Underpants for the 70th time. He’s off all oxygen.
He will very likely come home with me today. Home with me 3 days after drowning, home to live happily with his family instead of us burying him today.”
Leeson said the reason for sharing her story was to highlight just how quickly someone can drown, even when people are all around them. She wrote further:
“This happened in a pool full of people. A pool full of ADULTS. I’ve read so many stories about kids slipping away from their parents and getting into a pool, to be found drowned shortly later.
I’ve never considered the possibility that my child could drown right in front of people who were watching him bob up and down from the bottom of the pool to just below the surface, but didn’t think he was struggling because he looked like he was PLAYING.”
Adam’s story could have ended so differently. Leeson says it taught her that all of the thoughts she had about drowning and how she’d know if she saw it were completely wrong. She also understands that any parent could make the same mistakes she did. She added:
“When I found him myself, two feet from adults who were in the pool, my first thought was that it wasn’t him, that it was someone else’s kid who was seeing how long they could hold their breath.
I can 100 percent understand why the adults who were right there didn’t recognize that he was drowning, because when I saw him, I too thought he was just a kid who was playing.”
She also shared that Adam’s drowning was “100% preventable,” and that she felt that Adam was fine in the shallow end where she left him to attend to her daughter and knowing there were several other adults in the pool at the time and she was right next to the pool.
But anyone with kids knows just how quickly things can change — in a split second — everything can change. Lesson said:
“He said he slipped off the edge. Based on where he was in the shallow end, and where we found him, he means the ledge from the shallow to the deep end.
He said he kept going to the bottom then to the top and tried to yell ‘Mommy!’ It kills me to hear that. It kills me to know that his last thoughts were that mommy didn’t come for him.”
Adam is now on the mend. He was released from the hospital on Thursday and Leeson says outside of a little coughing and shortness of breath, he’s doing wonderful.
Leeson is urging parents to read and share her story in the hopes it prevents another family from going through what they went through. She said:
”I’m sharing this because I want to prevent this from happening to anyone else. Before going to any pool, first make sure your kids know not to get in until the adult who is responsible for them is ready to watch them.
That sounds like common sense, but I was thinking because so many adults were present, he was fine, but those adults didn’t know his swimming ability so they didn’t question when he was under water.
Second, know the signs of struggle. Adam didn’t look like he was struggling. He wasn’t splashing, thrashing, or screaming. He was simply underwater and couldn’t get his head above water.
Third, know CPR. I do know CPR. Could I have performed it in that moment? I like to believe I could have if I hadn’t seen someone else taking charge.
I like to think if I had been alone, my survival skills would have kicked in. Luckily, I don’t know, because my amazing friend was busy saving him, but I do know that if I didn’t know CPR, my helping him if we’d been alone wouldn’t have even been a possibility.
Please take water safety seriously. I never thought this would be me. It was me, but thanks to God and my dear friend Kristin, my son is still safely here. Learn from my mistakes so it’s not you.
KNOW THE SIGNS OF STRUGGLE! Adam didn’t look like he was struggling! He wasn’t splashing, thrashing, or screaming.”
https://www.facebook.com/maribeth.leeson/posts/2772340169462045