About Sarah...
Sarah was "our little princess" and we will always remember her as a beautiful, energetic child with maturity and wisdom beyond her years. She adored her older brother and strived to be just like him, despite being 9 years younger. She was quick witted, inquisitive and well behaved. She loved to sing, had fun dressing up and didn't know a stranger. Sarah wasn't a stranger to the water either - she had taken swimming lessons and always wore her PFD (personal flotation device) at family outings near the water. Sarah was 3 1/2 years old when she died on June 14th, 2004.
What Happened...
While with her mother at a friend's house, Sarah played busily with the friend's two daughters (a responsible teenager and her pre-teen sister). The friends had a cat that Sarah loved to play with. While the adults talked (and assumed that she was happily playing with the two girls), Sarah somehow slipped away to the backyard (we believe she may have been chasing after the cat that she was so fond of). The backyard, like so many yards in Las Vegas, had a swimming pool. But, there was no barrier between the house and the pool. When it was discovered that she was missing, the homeowner's daughters found her floating in the pool. The older teen and the homeowner pulled Sarah from the pool; they found that she was not breathing and had no pulse. Another adult guest at the home started CPR while emergency personnel were enroute. Because of the efforts of those at the house and the emergency medical personnel that responded to the scene, the doctors at the trauma center were able to restart Sarah's heart. For approximately 30 hours, Sarah remained on life support in the pediatric intensive care unit, but her heart stopped a little after 1:00 AM on June 14th, 2004.
What You Can Do...
Remember that:
- Supervision is required ALL the time. Make sure one person is "in charge" and they know it!
- Ensure there is a child proof physical barrier in place even if local codes don't require it.
- Learn CPR and keep your certification current!
- Tell others about remembersarah.com as well as the other sites featured on this page! We hope that by sharing Sarah's story, other tragedies can be averted.
