I was just thinking about the child who was disemboweled

Published

at the country club pool. Apparently she sank to the bottom and the suction was strong enough to pull her small gut out. It seems to me this would be a perfect trial of a stomach, pancreas, liver and small bowel transplant. I know they like to do it in one block because of all the anastamoses needed. Has anyone heard anything else?

I read about a similar case years ago, the child in that case was one of the first intestine recipients. She got a couple of other organs too, and she did very well.

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Specializes in Urgent Care.
I saw something on the news of a different girl and her story of sitting in the children's pool and her bowel being suctioned out by the strong pull of the drain and this is many years later now and the girl is just fine. No large bowel though. Her dad was interviewed and she was interviewed also and she acted like any other little girl so a good outcome is possible. What a horror story though. :o

The news was doing a story on how dangerous pools can be if the drains are not covered etc. Hope that little girl you are talking about will be ok :o

I used to work on commercial pools. Most places the health dept inspects them and they must have an anti-vortex cover or a special shut off valve that trips if something clogs up the main drain. This is hugely dangerous (hair can get caught in it too w/o the safety devices and then you drown).

Make sure any private pools have had this equipment installed. If they can do the anti-vortex drain cover cost is

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Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.

This poor child. I saw the pool owner on TV, denying any responsibility. And the little girl could be responsible for this how...? How absurd!

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

I saw the story on Nacy Grace, they stated on that show (dont know how accurate) that there were only 8 inches left of her intestine, they didnt state large or small and also that transplants would not be possible. The story is very sad.

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I have heard of many children drowning when their fingers get stuck in the grates of even the ssfety covers...That's why I always keep an eagle-eye on the kids whe they go into the deep end, near the intske. My kids have been taught since they began swimming as toddlers to NEVER touch the drain cover for any reason. They're young teens now, and I've explained to them the dangers. They now tell their friends to stay clear of the drain!

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Specializes in Cardiac.

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1285137.html

Several feet of her intestine were pulled out by the suction of a swimming pool drain. Doctors had to perform surgery to remove the part of Abigail's intestine that remained following the accident.

He said it is likely that she will have to be fed intravenously for the rest of her life.

Bennett said doctors now are concentrating on preventing infection and managing pain, and are also deciding what course to take on further potential medical procedures to treat the injury.

Honestly, this is so disturbing.

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Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

I believe what I read somewhere is that there was a tear just inside her rectum that allowed the less attached small bowel to be pulled through.

I have also heard of other incidents with hair being caught in hot tubs and the pool drains. The drain cover seems to be a fascination for children to try to pull it off. I wonder why the drain cant be made of a larger opening say 3' x 3' so noone could be trapped by it.

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A 3' by 3' opening would have the potential to suck someone in if the grate was removed. They need to simply add more vents which will distribute the suction. I remember those vents as a kid, they were surprisingly strong.

The story is making a bit more sense to me, but I had initially where the little girl had freed herself and went to get help. There needs to be a massive effort to educate and fix these problems. Departments of health need to close any pool with these type of vents.

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Specializes in Brain injury,vent,peds ,geriatrics,home.

OMG!!! Where did this happen?? that sounds awful.

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Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

Minneapolis I believe. Here's a tv station news account

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/13626279/detail.html

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when the small intestine was ripped out the suction was lost and the little girl crawled out of the pool. she lost the entire large intestine and all but a few inches of the small intestine

the story i saw did not hold out any hope of a transplant, horrid story makes you wonder what can happen to you on just a fun day out with your children

i to have seen other stories about children losing thier bowels and of people with long hair being drowned, there are suppose to be emergency cutoffs but with an older pool there maybe not be one

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how did she manage to get out of the pool???? why did it take awhile for anyone to notice the few feet of intestine hanging out of her????? im Goobsmacked that she even managed to move

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