Would you tie a rope around your ankles and go for a swim? Probably not unless you were planning to kill yourself. But this little girl’s swimsuit was designed to do exactly that, and the father wondered why he almost lost his daughter.
Little kids love to play make-believe. Dressing up is all a part of that. Adam Lisberg had treated his daughters to a couple of mermaid costumes as the summer weather rolled around. He was going to let them play in their little paddling pool with their new outfits.
However, these costumes were designed very badly. They were what you would expect from a mermaid outfit. The bottom half was a tail that completely restricted leg movement. It tapered down into a fin at the bottom and kept the legs together.
“We knew that with it blocking their feet, it’s harder to kick or walk — and they knew that — but we figured (the pool) is two feet deep. Even if they sit down, they can get themselves up,” Adam said about the girls’ swimsuit. However, his blasé attitude almost cost his little girl her life.
Legs Tied By Dangerous Swimsuit
Lisberg let his kids play out in the garden in their new dangerous outfits. He didn’t think much of the risk, due to the shallow depth of the water. But, when your legs are tied, and arms are too weak to push your body up, even a few inches is enough to kill you.
While watching from inside the house, he realised that one of his little girls wasn’t moving. The younger one had swallowed too much water, unable to push herself from being submerged, with her legs restrained by the swimming suit.
“I’m thinking, ‘This is not how it’s supposed to end. It’s a wonderful, happy Sunday afternoon, the girls are having so much fun in the pool. It’s not supposed to end like this,” the father told Today.com.
He rushed out to find his daughter not moving, with her eyes wide. “Ruby explained that Annabelle had been under the water, and she saw her there and was trying to talk to Annabelle. But she wasn’t responding,” he recalled.
After performing CPR on his daughter, emergency services arrived. Thankfully, she was resuscitated and recovered completely in the hospital.
However, as the summer arrives, and kids start to go out to swim, let’s try not to get them a swimsuit that essentially ties their legs together, shall we?