On January 24, 2005, shortly after Mackenzie turned 4, she was taking swimming lessons at the local YMCA. Less than 72 hours later she became a near-drowning victim in that very same pool during a routine preschool swim activity. No one can tell us what happened because no one (a lifeguard was present) was actively supervising the children. Although it was a preschool setting and Ohio law states that the caregiver ratio must be maintained and cannot include the lifeguard, the caregiver was outside of the pool area in an “observation area” reading a book. The lifeguard claims he glanced away for only a second and that she couldn’t have been floating for more than a minute. However, the doctors estimate the amount of injury that her brain sustained would have only resulted from a minimum of 4 to 5 minutes without oxygen. She spent 4 days on a respirator, 7 days in a coma, and 3 months at inpatient rehabilitation an hour away from home.
Today she is completely dependent for all her needs and she has numerous seizures throughout the day and night. She has come a long way in 6 years, but we will always miss the happy, energetic, loving little girl that blessed our lives. This tragedy has changed our lives forever, mostly in negative ways, but also in that it has made our family stronger and introduced us to some amazing people that we are grateful to now call our friends.
