Mother using heartbreak of her daughter’s drowning to preach water safety - ‘I didn’t think I could survive’

November 12, 2018

A Kiwi mother is using the heartbreak of her two-year-old daughter’s drowning to preach a message of water safety so other families can avoid her pain.

A Kiwi mother is using the heartbreak of her two-year-old daughter’s drowning to preach a message of water safety so other families can avoid her pain.

Chantelle Kerlin found her daughter, Saylor Rose, floating in a friend’s pool after losing track of where she was during a visit to a friend's house on a cold winter night just over a year ago.

“I’m running around in there talking to my girlfriend and all the children kind of snuck away into the house where I thought she was, I thought she was with her big brother,” she said.

“She went around the back of the house, which we weren’t aware of, it happened within seconds.”

“I frantically was running around looking for her and I thought of their pool, that’s when I saw her, floating.”

“Adrenaline took over, I jumped into the pool, I immediately started CPR on her very limp body.”

“For that split second, I wasn’t aware and I should have been.”

Chantelle has been attempting to heal herself since the tragedy.

"It’s a parent’s worst nightmare and I didn’t think I could survive it.”

She now pleas with people to always be aware of where children are, to check that pools are fenced and gates are closed and other precautions to prevent similar tragedies. 

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