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A Sarasota girl nearly dies after accidentally ingesting pool water

 
A pool accident left Elianna Grace with doctors at Sarasota Memorial Hospital  with aspiration pneumonia, chemical pneumonitis and perihilar edema. She had to rely on oxygen to breathe. [Courtesy of Lacey Grace]
A pool accident left Elianna Grace with doctors at Sarasota Memorial Hospital with aspiration pneumonia, chemical pneumonitis and perihilar edema. She had to rely on oxygen to breathe. [Courtesy of Lacey Grace]
Published April 24, 2018

It started off like a regular pool day at her grandparent's home. Elianna Grace, 4, and other kids were having fun, blowing water out of pool noodles at each other.

Then, as Elianna was blowing water out one end of the noodle, someone else accidentally did the same from the other end, forcing water down her throat.

The girl's mother, Lacey Grace, said she threw the water up immediately. Then 30 minutes later, she was back normal. But on April 16, just two days afterward, Elianna started to develop a fever and was struggling with her appetite.

Then things turned serious after Lacey Grace took Elianna to urgent care.

"We were there about 10 minutes when the doctor said to get her to the nearest ER as soon as possible," Lacey Grace wrote on her Facebook page on April 19. "Her heart rate was crazy high, her oxygen was low, and her skin was turning purple which suggested chemical infection."

Now Lacey Grace wants to warn parents to keep a closer eye on their children after they visit pools, especially within 48 hours.

She told the Tampa Bay Times that doctors at Sarasota Memorial Hospital diagnosed the girl with aspiration pneumonia, chemical pneumonitis and perihilar edema.

"I would have never thought this could happen from pool water," Lacey Grace said, adding that doctors weren't sure if she inhaled the water through her nose when she got sprayed or when she threw the water back up.

Elianna Grace had to rely on oxygen to breathe while she was at the hospital from April 18-21. She's doing better, Lacey Grace said, and no longer needs oxygen to breathe but still struggles with her appetite.

Lacey Grace credited a story about a Texas Boy dying

"I'm not sure if I would have ever even remembered the pool incident if i didn't read that story," Lacey Grace said. "I would have thought, you know, she's obviously coming down with something. But I would have never thought 'Oh! Pool chemicals in her lungs.' "

Bevin Maynard, supervisor at St. Joseph's Children's Wellness and Safety Center, said Elianna Grace was very fortunate that her mother was watching her and paid close attention to her behavior after the incident.

Maynard said children between the ages of 1 and 4 are highly susceptible to drowning and other pool accidents, but parents staying vigilant is the key to prevention. She added the environment pools promote can also lull people into a false sense of security.

"It's fun. It's welcoming. [Children] see it as a really fun place to go with their family," Maynard said. "When you think of pools, you think of fun and it's very attractive to toddlers. So it just happens so fast."

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Elianna Grace's family has set also up a Gofundme page to help with the hospital bills after the incident.