Florida Girl Develops Breathing Issues After Inhaling Pool Water

BRADENTON, FL - A 4-year-old Bradenton girl is recuperating at home after she inhaled pool water on April 14 in what her mother described as a "freak accident." Elianna Grace was treated at Sarasota Memorial Hospital after she was diagnosed with aspiration pneumonia and chemical pneumonitis. Two days after the pool incident, the girl developed a fever.

In a GoFundMe post, the girl's mother Lacey Grace gave this account of what happened to her daughter:

"Elianna was playing in the pool with a “pool noodle” on Saturday, (April 14) and as many many children do every day, she was blowing in one end and blowing water out the other. By 100 percent freak accident, Elianna put her mouth to blow out at the same time someone blew in the other end, causing the water to shoot directly down her throat. She threw up immediately but didn’t really have any other notable things happen. Thirty minutes after the 'accident' she was totally fine - normal, playing, eating, etc. The next day, even, she was fine. Come Monday (April 15) she developed a fever. Kids get fevers, this is normal. I didn’t think much. Tuesday she slept most of the day but still overall looked fine. Sent her to school Wednesday and got a call in the afternoon that her fever was back."

Lacey Grace said she took her daughter to urgent care and the doctor said to get her to the nearest emergency room as soon as possible. "Her heart rate was crazy high, her oxygen was low, and her skin was turning purple which suggested chemical infection.Went to the nearest ER where they did a chest X-ray and showed inflammation and infection caused from pool chemicals.Two hours later, they transferred her by ambulance to an even larger hospital so they could monitor her around the clock and have pediatric specialists keep an eye on her," Lacey Grace said.

Lacey Grace has this warning for parents: "If your child swallows/inhales a bunch of (pool) water, and something seems off at all, I encourage you to immediately get help. I wonder if I would have taken her Monday (April 15), would she be better off? And I wonder if I waited longer what would have happened. It’s so scary."

Elianna has been released from the hospital and is being treated at home, according to the GoFundMe page. The GoFundMe page was set up to help the family with hospital and doctor bills.

Image via GoFundMe