States Continue to Ignore Law That Prevents Pools from Becoming Child Deathtraps
On Monday, singer Usher Raymond’s 5-year-old son, Usher Raymond V, almost became another tragic pool drain statistic.
The boy was playing in the pool with his aunt when his arm became caught in the pool’s drain. His aunt, a nanny, and a housekeeper were unsuccessful in pulling the boy from the drain.
Sound technician Eugene Stachurski, who was installing AV equipment in the house, heard the women’s screams and dived into the pool. Stachurski pulled the boy from the drain and performed CPR on him. CNN reports that the child was “conscious, alert and breathing” when an ambulance transported him to a hospital. He was kept overnight for observation.
“My son is OK, but I have no further comment at this time,” the boy’s mother Tameka Foster told CNN Tuesday. She answered “I have no comment” when asked about media reports that her lawyer filed an emergency injunction to remove her two sons from Usher’s care on Tuesday.
Usher and Tameka were lucky. Their son was saved by a quick thinking contractor. But an inexpensive pool drain cover could have prevented the near-tragedy from happening.
Pool drains exert 200 pounds of pressure on children that become caught in the drains, making it nearly impossible to free them.
6-year-old Abigail Taylor’s parents lobbied for new legislation after Abigail was horrifically injured when she sat on a pool drain in a wading pool on June 29, 2007. The powerful suction of the pool’s pump sucked most of her large intestines and part of her small intestines out of her body through a 2-inch tear in her rectum. Despite multiple surgeries to repair the damage done to her organs, Abigail (pictured above left) succumbed to her injuries 8 months later.
In December 2008, President George W. Bush signed a law that “bans the manufacture, sale or distribution of pool drain covers that don’t meet anti-entrapment safety standards.”
The new law was named after Virginia Graeme Baker, the 7-year-old granddaughter of former Secretary of State James Baker, who died in 2002 when she became trapped by the powerful suction of a drain in a hot tub.
Her frantic mother, Nancy Baker, rushed to save her daughter. “I couldn’t understand why, despite all of my efforts, I couldn’t pry her free. I couldn’t get her off the drain,” Baker said.
The girl was “essentially cemented” to the bottom of the hot tub. It took two other adults to pry Baker’s daughter free from the drain. But it was too late to save Virginia.
Many children have lost their lives in swimming pools that are not outfitted with pool drain covers designed to prevent such deaths.
According to CNN.com, “the law applies to all pools with public access, including those at hotels, apartments and residential communities.” But many pool operators have not complied with the law.
CNN reports that the agency overseeing the law — the Consumer Product Safety Commission — is so small that it doesn’t have the manpower to enforce the law in every state.
Experts advise home owners to buy the new drain covers for their pools. But almost all residential pools in Georgia are still not fitted with the new drain covers.
“If you make the choice not to put on this cover, you’re leaving open the chance for a child to sit on a drain and then be so horribly injured that they’d be without their intestines, without their colon, and basically live a life on a feeding tube,” Nancy Baker said.
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33 Responses to “States Continue to Ignore Law That Prevents Pools from Becoming Child Deathtraps”
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Good write up Sandra! I had no idea that the suction drain on pools were so dangerous.
Sad, but I thought the court filing was already planned and filed on Tuesday before the accident.
Oh. My. GOSH! Intestines through the rectum though?!!!!!!!!
That poor baby
I’m glad he’s ok.. I feel bad for Usher and Timeka. I pray that his baby is ok in the long run.
Also, Tameka should file for custody. Usher doesn’t have time.
AlabamaSky says:
Oh. My. GOSH! Intestines through the rectum though?!!!!!!!!
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I crossed my legs when I read this…. Not that it’ll help if I were to ever get caught…
@LSLH she did file for custody, and I don’t blame her!
Oh. My. GOSH! Intestines through the rectum though?!!!!!!!!
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I crossed my legs when I read this…. Not that it’ll help if I were to ever get caught…
by RAZZLE is the
, not a BEDAZZLED tramp. 
on Aug 7, 2013
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My stomach DROPPED! Just like it did yesterday when I heard about this accident smh
Wow thanks for this write up Sandra seriously
The powerful suction of the pool’s pump sucked most of her large intestines and part of her small intestines out of her body through a 2-inch tear in her rectum. Despite multiple surgeries to repair the damage done to her organs, Abigail (pictured above left) succumbed to her injuries 8 months later.
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I’m confused even if a parent Mother or Father was in the pool this still could have happened its not like the drain said Usher isn’t home get him now? Good Morning all.
These babies are needing their parents now… not sitters. Where was Usher when this happened? And I heard Temeka filed for custody…
Why aren’t you in the hospital with him regardless of his condition? SHe couldn’t give it a few days?
Anyway I pray all of these families get the peace they need.
I have mixed feelings about this. I mean, yes Usher has custody but is he not allowed to leave the child while he runs and errand, has a meeting or goes to have lunch? I mean, it’s not like he had a nanny watching him, he was with family. Does Tameka have the kids with her every waking minute of the day? I think not.
She should be at the hospital comforting and taking care of her child, not filing stuff with the court.
Phillybruh says:
I’m confused even if a parent Mother or Father was in the pool this still could have happened its not like the drain said Usher isn’t home get him now? Good Morning all.
GOOD COMMENT
August 7, 2013 at 9:46 am
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Oh. My. GOSH! Intestines through the rectum though?!!!!!!!!
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I crossed my legs when I read this…. Not that it’ll help if I were to ever get caught…
******
Me too. I cringed the whole time I was reading this. I’m getting a pool installed this winter too.
make sure you get a drain cover then.
I am so thankful that our pool has the anti-suction drain cover.
OK…. I’m about to get back to paperwork…too sad this morning… TTYL
Phillybruh says:
I’m confused even if a parent Mother or Father was in the pool this still could have happened its not like the drain said Usher isn’t home get him now? Good Morning all.
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NOPE. It would not have mattered AT ALL. The lil boy was still going to swim to the bottom to get the toy and it makes no difference but ppl dont want to understand that.
I think Tameka’s point is that when she was fighting for custody she felt like he wasn’t even going to be there the kids would be with nannies and family most the time and here was a situation where a kid probably wishes mommy or daddy was there and she can be there more often than Usher’s career allows him to be. Not to mention tragically losing a child last year. That make’s you want to hold your kids tight
I think Tameka’s point is that when she was fighting for custody she felt like he wasn’t even going to be there the kids would be with nannies and family most the time and here was a situation where a kid probably wishes mommy or daddy was there and she can be there more often than Usher’s career allows him to be. Not to mention tragically losing a child last year. That make’s you want to hold your kids tight
by mrsloveleigh on Aug 7, 2013 at 9:58 am
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Exactly how I see it. And she was with him in the hospital. I believe her attorney was responsible for physically filing the motion in court.
Morning & chit
MORE SO,Know where ur POOl Pump is, they could have hit the shut off vavle and it would have released him as well
When I think about the pool drains I think about that movie final destination, when dude got his booty insides sucked out
According to the story I saw on the news this morning pool drain accidents are pretty rare and even less often do they lead to death. This situation is not really a crisis. The child is safe praise God. He was being very closely watched which led to immediate action the second he got trapped.
As for Tameka, I don’t think she can win. Her children were taken away for a reason. Unless she has gotten her mind right and has moved past the severe depression that immobilized her when she had the kids she doesn’t need to get them back. Usher wasn’t home the minute it happened but he was so close by that he got there in time to ride to the hospital with his baby. I see no neglegence on his part in this accident.
On BEY
I am torn because LAWD if i had a baby DROWN my kids would be LANDLOCKED FOREVER!!! hug your babies yall, i hope these two FOCUS on the baby and not get into some dang TWITTER war….over some BS …. CRAZY but WTF was up with the lil dude hollering he faking he faking on the 911 call
Phillybruh says:
I’m confused even if a parent Mother or Father was in the pool this still could have happened its not like the drain said Usher isn’t home get him now?
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The point of this post is the new pool drain cover could have prevented this near-tragedy.
Bird says:
According to the story I saw on the news this morning pool drain accidents are pretty rare and even less often do they lead to death.
SR Responds: Even one child’s death is too many.
Bird says:
This situation is not really a crisis. The child is safe praise God. He was being very closely watched which led to immediate action the second he got trapped.
SR Responds: Thanks to the AV technician. If he wasn’t there the story would have ended very badly.
Bird says:
Usher wasn’t home the minute it happened but he was so close by that he got there in time to ride to the hospital with his baby. I see no neglegence on his part in this accident.
SR Responds: True. I don’t blame Usher for this at all. He left his 2 sons with 3 capable women. But accidents do happen.
So grateful for the sound techs that saved him and got him breathing before the ambulance came. I just
this baby is ok and wasnt without oxygen long enough to cause severe damage.