What You May Not Know - Long-term Drowning Injuries

When we hear about water accidents, we often only hear about heartbreaking stories of deaths from drowning, as if that wasn’t enough,  did you know for every one child that losses his/her life to a drowning incident, another 5 children suffer a near drowning (or in Abby’s case, a nonfatal drowning) resulting in long-term health consequences? 

  Our little Abby is currently facing challenges of developmental delays, seizures and memory related issues;  her doctors suspect her near drowning may be a contributing factor.  Tomorrow, we are checking in at All Children’s for an MRI of her brain to rule out a number of issues.  We pray that her MRI and other various labs comes back clear.  The summer is full of ongoing testing while we do everything possible to support Abby’s ability to catch up with her peers before she starts Kindergarten.  This is incredibly difficult for our family, as we’d love to just tell everyone that she suffered a drowning and she came out perfect, but the reality is that the degree of her drowning event rarely ends in survival and even more rarely a perfect recovery with no longterm issues.  What’s wonderful is Abby’s endless energy and happiness that fills any room she’s in.  Regardless of any challenges she’s facing, she carries on, singing and dancing – “She Loves Being a Princess” and she’ll tell you that quit regularly in a song she loves to sing.    We know that the Lord has his hands around her, and regardless of the results of all the summer long testing – he will  continue to carry her and our family through this.  

As a mom who realizes first hand just how easy and detrimental water accidents can be, even while we go through this as a family - - it’s important that we share the truth with other families.    Please be sure to read up on summer water safety tips (we’ll be posting a flyer in the next few days on our website and social media sites), and be sure your babies are equipped with Survival Swim and you’re equipped with CPR training.  (We’ll also be posting a link to the Polk Fire Rescue site, which has some wonderful resources for drowning prevention). 

• From 2005-2009, there were an average of 3,533 fatal unintentional drownings (non-boating related) annually in the United States — about ten deaths per day. An additional 347 people died each year from drowning in boating-related incidents.2
  
  
•  For every child who dies from drowning, another five receive emergency department care for nonfatal submersion injuries (50 per day based on ’05-09 statistics).1
  
  
• More than 50% of drowning victims treated in emergency departments (EDs) require hospitalization or transfer for further care (compared with a hospitalization rate of about 6% for all unintentional injuries).1,2  These nonfatal drowning injuries can cause severe brain damage that may result in long-term disabilities such as memory problems, learning disabilities, and permanent loss of basic functioning (e.g., permanent vegetative state).3,4
  
  
• http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/Water-Safety/waterinjuries-factsheet.html
  
  Those statistics alone are alarming – but realize this, those numbers are from 7-9 years ago and these numbers have surely increased.  Alarming to say the least.
  
  As always, we so appreciate the continued support and prayers.  You all give us the strength to keep up this fight and we couldn’t do it without you!
  
   
  
   
  
   
  
   
  
  

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