MCHD Teams Up with Montgomery County Family in Drowning Prevention

CONROE, TX – With summer and swimming season quickly approaching, Montgomery County Hospital District and Texas Children’s Hospital would like to invite you to May Day, an event focused on drowning prevention.

On Easter weekend in 2018, a Montgomery County couple was hosting a family get-together and noticed their 1-year-old daughter, Lilly, was missing. Her mother immediately had a feeling that her daughter was in the neighbors’ pool. Unfortunately, her instincts were right. Without knowing how long she had been in the pool, they removed Lilly from the water and began CPR. Upon fire department and MCHD EMS arrival, the toddler was breathing and had a pulse but was lethargic and pale. Crews worked to assist Lilly’s breathing, warm her and get her to Texas Children’s Hospital in The Woodlands. Thankfully, Lilly survived. The family’s account of the event is below.

It was the day before Easter, we were excited about seeing all our family and friends. Our Baby Girl, Lilly, was 16 months old and we were thrilled that she was walking and would be able to actually enjoy egg hunting for the first time. We dressed Lilly in the cutest little chicken shirt with giant matching bow, that day we traded in the “squeaky” shoes for some super cute sandals. Our day began early. We kicked off the festivities at our neighborhood egg hunt with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. We had lunch and a family egg hunt with my husband’s family and returned home around 3:00 in the afternoon to prepare to host dinner and celebrate with my family. We had a short time to prepare as guest would start arriving at 4 p.m. Lilly was napping and re-energizing for the next round of fun and my husband and I darted around the house to make final preparations to host 35-40 people.

At about 3:45, family began to arrive and joined us as we prepared food, stuffed eggs and planned the order of events for the evening. Lilly woke up from her nap about 4:15 and was ready to go. Our house was full and so were our hearts. The majority of the guests stayed in our front yard and garage, we had arranged tables and chairs in the driveway for eating and visiting. We had toddler riding toys, chalk, bubbles, balls and pretty much any outdoor toy you could imagine in our driveway to keep them busy. We rounded up the kids around 4:45 for the first egg hunt of the evening. Lilly was so excited to get the eggs, she would shake them and get so excited to see what was inside. After the hunt, we gathered for family pictures. We even recruited a neighbor to take our huge group photo. My little family including my husband, myself, our 3 daughters, my future son-in-law and my grandmother posed for one last photo at 5:12 p.m. Then it was on to preparing for dinner. Lilly was playing in the driveway with her cousins, and I was right by her side visiting with family. My brother had prepared the BBQ prior and came to me asking for a cutting board. I asked a family member to keep an eye on Lilly so that I could help my brother. My husband was in the backyard grilling.

I went inside, grabbed a cutting board and cleared off the kitchen island to make room for the buffet. I was making my way back outside and crossed paths with family that was watching over Lilly but Lilly was nowhere in sight. I began calling her name and searching for her. I yelled for my husband and her sisters to help me. Within moments everyone was screaming, running, and searching for our baby girl. Minutes seemed like an eternity. I stood in our driveway and cried out for her, people were scattered everywhere looking for her. It hit me that the next door neighbors had a swimming pool in their backyard and did not have a fence or any barrier around it. I sent a cousin of mine to check back there, as I stood completely frozen in our driveway. Moments later, he carried our lifeless little girl from their backyard as he screamed for help.

Our worst nightmare was unfolding before our eyes. It was 5:32 p.m., my sister in law made the 911 call. Our little baby girl, our Lilly Bug laid in our front yard as her daddy and my uncle immediately began performing CPR on her. Her older sister Katlyn stood over her and begged and pleaded with God for a miracle and directed everyone else to hit their knees and do the same. After a couple of rounds of CPR, Lilly began expelling a little bit of water but was still completely unresponsive. Within minutes, the Montgomery Fire Department arrived and took over life-saving measures giving Lilly thrust to the back and she began expelling lots of water. MCHD arrived and continued to work with the firemen to stabilize Lilly and prepare her for transport to the hospital. I was distraught and told for obvious reasons that I could not accompany Lilly in the ambulance but my husband was more composed and he got to ride along with her. Family drove me and her sisters behind the ambulance and my husband called me several times during the 35 minute trip to Texas Children’s Hospital-The Woodlands. We arrived and Lilly was placed in the Trauma Emergency Room where a team of doctors and nurses evaluated, x-rayed, and monitored her. By the time she arrived at the hospital she began crying and her vitals were improving. We were told she had a little bit of fluid in her lungs and they would wait a few hours and do another x-ray. Within an hour, we were able to hold Lilly and make efforts to calm her down. Lilly could only speak a few words at this age so they asked us to watch and listen closely for any words that she knew prior to her accident. After a couple of hours, she was telling the nurses “bye-bye” when they would leave the room. Our hopes were high and we had every reason to believe that we had certainly been given a miracle. Lilly was released from the hospital, Sunday, April 1, 2018, at 3:00 a.m., we were told to follow up with her regular pediatrician the next week and our Lilly was going to be okay.

March 31, 2018, our world completely flipped upside down and back right side up. Lilly is nothing short of an absolute miracle. Without a doubt, we know God placed all the right people in all the right places that day. From family, to the firemen, to the EMS team to the Texas Children’s team that cared for her. I wish that I could go back and change so many things about that day, even down to the shoes that I would have put her in. What if she had the squeaky shoes on? Would someone have heard her toddling off?

Lilly’s non fatal-drowning experience is definitely something I never want to see another family have to experience. Not a day goes by that my husband, myself and Lilly’s older sisters, Katlyn & Taylor, aren’t reminded of this horrific day. It’s not an experience we asked for but we have tried our best to use it as an opportunity to spread the importance of water safety. We didn’t know the statistics; I can’t even say we paid much attention to the thought of drowning because we didn’t have a pool. We had lived in our house for 5 years and we have a privacy fence but honestly never gave any thought to the neighbors having a swimming pool with no fence or barriers. In addition to an unprotected, unsupervised pool, a giant unicorn floated around attracting the attention of anyone especially that of a small child. We enrolled Lilly in Swim Lessons immediately following her accident, she has completed nearly 30 lessons and continues to go weekly. Swim lessons are so important, as they teach children how to maneuver their bodies safely in water. Whether it’s floating, swimming or teaching them how to get to the side, swim lessons can be lifesaving. I personally did not know CPR the day of Lilly’s accident, but I have since been trained by MCHD how to administer CPR safely and effectively. CPR was the initial life-saving skill performed that contributed hugely to saving Lilly. It’s extremely important to know CPR even though you pray you will never have to use it. We now know and have a strong desire to share the Layers of Protection that are necessary in efforts to prevent drownings. Supervision, as obvious as that sounds, is the most important. Pool Fences/Barriers… I’ve heard all the excuses from we don’t have small kids, our kids know how to swim, we live on 20 acres and our neighbors are light years away. No excuse or reason is valid, if you have a swimming pool on your property anywhere it’s your responsibility to protect it.

We never thought drowning could happen to us or to our kids…. We are over protective parents, we don’t have a pool, we pay attention…. The truth is NO ONE is excluded from drowning, it can happen to anyone. However, we pray that Lilly’s amazing, miraculous story encourages you to pay attention and implement the necessary layers that protect you, your loved ones and your property.

My hearts are filled with gratitude and love for my husband Al and uncle Donald who immediately, began CPR on Lilly. The amazing first responders (Montgomery Fire Department and Montgomery County Hospital District) that cared for our Lilly Bug as if she was one of their own. The staff at Texas Children’s Hospital-The Woodlands was amazing. We are so thankful we have Lilly here with us to share her story.

Since her near-drowning, Lilly has been enrolled in swim lessons, her family has learned CPR and her neighbors have fenced their pool. Lilly celebrated her 2nd birthday and has made a full recovery. Unfortunately, this is not the story for all who experience drowning. Drowning is the leading cause of death of children ages 1 to 4 years old in the United States. Countless other children will have devastating lifelong injuries as a result of a near-drowning.

Lilly’s family has agreed to share their story in hopes of educating other parents and caregivers in drowning prevention. Representatives from Texas Children’s Hospital will also be on hand to discuss its new program S.P.L.A.S.H. aimed at preventing drowning and near-drowning injuries through education, partnerships and collaboration with the community.

Please join us on Wednesday, May 29th at Bear Branch Pool at 5200 Research Forest Dr. in The Woodlands at 10:00 a.m.