The Egyptian family was enjoying the vacation when their child Salma Bashir – the five-year-young – sat on a swimming pool drain. A few seconds later, Salma was roughly pulled down by the suction force. Her screams were not enough for her to be rescued in time.
The little girl was dressed in a nice red maillot that her mom believed the red spots on the pool were pieces of her maillot after she was withdrawn. But the truth was way more terrifying; the red spots were the girl’s blood as her insides were tragically ripped out.
According to the medical stuff, Salma had only some weeks to live. But not giving up on her, her family decided to relocate to Pennsylvania to get her life-prolonging procedures. After 2 years, they raised 300,000 Dollars which enabled the little girl to have a surgery of intestine transplant; her body, however, rejected it. Thus, after six months, doctors were forced to remove the transplant, gall bladder and the colon.
Salma defied the doctors’ assumptions to survive. She became a seventeen-year-old optimistic and softhearted girl. Despite her extremely hard life, she always tries to keep her spirits as high as possible.
Similar incidents are unfortunately not very rare. In 2008, for instance, another Minneapolitan six-year-young girl accidentally sat on the suction valve of a swimming pool and some of her alimentary tract was sucked out.
The girl’s family came out later to declare that the girl has passed. Bob Bennett – the family attorney – said that on that sad evening Saturday, Abigail (the young girl) ‘s parents were at the Nebraska hospital with her at the time she died.
This accident brought about some new federal legislation regarding pools’ safety.
Bennett said “the world’s less better off without Abigail Taylor.”
The spokesperson of the Nebraska Medical Center, Kara Haworth appeared to confirm the death of the girl and said that she was not able to give any further comments.
The accident took place on the 29th of June when the suction valve of a golf club wading pool in Saint Louis Park sucked out part of her alimentary tract. In December, at the Medical Center of Nebraska’s University, Abigail underwent transplants of pancreas, liver and small bowel, but there were complications.
The girl’s parents – Katey and Scott Taylor – made a campaign for legislation of safer and better procedures of swimming pools. The campaign paid off that the Congress gave legislation approval of banning any sale or fabrication of drain covers which don’t comply with the safety standards of anti-entrapment.
The VGBA (Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act) legislation was named after the granddaughter of James State – a State former Secretary – who was also a drain victim. In 2002, at a graduation ceremony, the seven-year-young girl was affixed by the suction drain to the pool bottom and suffocated to death.
Also, the lawmakers of the Minnesota state were discussing better pools’ safety regulations.
After hearing about the girl’s death, the state senate Geoff Michel -who was doing his best to make new regulations regarding swimming pools safety- used the expression “a very amazing family” to describe the Taylor’s.
Stating that he believed the bill would be accepted, a supporter of the Republican Party from Edina said “It was a pretty compelling case already.” He also said that Scott Taylor made her daughter the promise of changing the law.
“He’s made the promise and we want to help him fulfill that,” added Michel, the Republican.
In November, a lawsuit was issued by the Taylor’s against Sta Rite Industries as well as the golf club.
