26 June 2024 , 10:41
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A family's holiday turned to heartbreak in mere moments when 11-year-old London Marie and her older brother Wadale, aged 14, tragically drowned in their hotel pool while engaging in a popular underwater swimming challenge. Their mother, Brittney McWhite, who is also mum to four other children, had momentarily left the siblings unsupervised in the pool area to prepare food for a barbecue at their New Jersey hotel, confident in their swimming abilities.
In a heartbreaking interview with FOX 29, the devastated mother recounted the horror of discovering her children "at the bottom of the pool" upon her return. The young pair had been playing a breath-holding variation of Marco Polo, a game that took a fatal turn.
Despite being swiftly rescued from the water and receiving emergency medical attention, London and Wadale sadly passed away following the incident. In the wake of this tragedy, Brittney has issued a dire warning to all parents as the summer season approaches, urging them to "Always have a set of eyes. Prevent your kids from playing games and make sure the pool is safe. If it doesn't look right, don't do it because once you lose your child, it is hard."
The siblings were placed on life support in desperate hope for recovery, but after a week, it became apparent to both Brittney and the children's father that there would be no improvement. With heavy hearts, Brittney emotionally disclosed on Sunday: "Keeping my child hooked onto a machine for the rest of their life is not ideally what any parent should want for their children, so today I and dad decided to end life support."
The "devastated" mum found some solace in the knowledge that her children are "at peace", acknowledging that although they were complete opposites, they simply couldn't live without each other. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents has warned that children can drown in as little as five centimetres of water, which means even a shallow garden pond or paddling pool poses a significant risk to unsupervised kids.
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They've recommended that families planning to spend time by pools or at the beach this summer should check the safety measures, such as lifeguard presence and fencing, beforehand. Additionally, they emphasise the importance of teaching children to swim and instilling in them the rule to never swim alone.