To think this is outrageously irresponsible parenting

Yes, tragic accidents do happen. However, the news shared above indicated that in a large proportion of drownings abroad, parents weren't nearby!

My MIL had a close friend who dived head first into a pool when she was 19 and was paralysed from the neck down for the rest of her life. She had to blow into a tube to make her wheelchair move and had round the clock carers. her fiancè left her soon after the accident. So very sad.

I know of a 5 year old child who jumped headfirst into a pool abroad and ended up with a life changing brain injury and was disabled for life and those parents had only turned their backs for a moment to attend to their other child. It takes seconds for something horrific to happen.

Wow that’s terrible. Some parents prioritise alcohol and socialising above their children on holiday. Terrible

Things like this make me want to cry. And we wonder why there are so many screwed up adults walking around. How could someone laugh at any child in distress, let alone their own flesh and blood.

And to the OP - you are in the right. Those parents are a bloody disgrace, that poor baby could have drowned. Honestly some people don't deserve to have kids.

@CaffeinatedMum Its so common. I was on holiday last year and a couple left their toddler in the kids pool with a rubber ring and armbands. The kid fell over and got stuck head down with the rubber ring pushing his legs up, coughing and spluttering in the water.
Parents didn't even notice that we pulled him out.
People should never rely on buoyancy aids or lifeguards to replace their responsibilities as parents.

This does not surprise me. In my lufeguarding days, I only had to fish kids out a couple of times, and they hadborth been told not to do the things they did,but parents can get very defensive when you suggest their child isn't a strong enough swimmer to go on the inflatable animal- and then they wait until the lifeguards move stations (ad we did every 20 minutes,) and they lue and say the other lifeguard said it was okay (as if we never talked to each other. Obviously they never said, "thank you for saving my child, I should have listened to you."

Though I do remember with pleasure the time we took all the foam toys out, because we were at capacity. Most people were okay with this, but one woman was getting very arsey about it, and insisted on the manager being called, so he came out, and she started on about how the customer always comes first, and he very calmly replied, "no madam, at this pool, safety always comes first, and my lifeguards are doing just as I expect. Please get dressed and see me in reception " (Thank you, Tim.)

It is probably.the most responsible job I've had - if you fuck up, people can die. The worst that could happen in all the jobs sinc is that people could lose money - but they seem to worry about that far more.

I'm with you - if I saw a toddler in the pool alone without an obvious adult around I'd worry about it too. I'd never leave my DC alone in the water (8 & 5) because they're not strong swimmers. My eldest was rolling her eyes at me on our recent holiday for insisting she stay at a depth where she could touch the bottom of the pool and not sneak off into the deep end. It just takes 2 minutes for something to go wrong in water.

They would not be liable at all. As long as their property meets all local regulations, they have no liability for any accident on their property. They’d have to be proven to be at fault and nowhere in any regulations anywhere in the world does it say a business holds any in loco parentis responsibility for children. Even under our U.K. “duty of care” legal responsibility, that is limited to what is reasonable.

They may have a moral duty, they would certainly want to avoid any bad publicity, but that’s entirely different from being liable.

I had this once. Was swimming with my son and a kid who was about 5 kept coming up to us and interrupting. He could swim a bit, but not well and he kept going under a little and drinking the water, so we basically spent our swimming lesson being harrased by a kid desperately wanting some attention. His Dad was just sat by the side of the pool watching, then fucked off for a sauna leaving him with us - twice - even though I asked him to get him. I even stayed in the pool whilst he was steaming his massive lard arse away in the sauna because I didn't want to leave the kid unattended.

Eventually I left, waited where the guy couldn't see me but could see his kid still, and lo and behold he decided to come out to look after his kid. At this point I called him useless (yes in front of my son, but at least he can see you can't just dump your kids on anyone without annoying them and he agreed the man wasn't a good parent).

He did strike me as a divorcee taking his kid out. Wonder why. 😂

I see at least one a shift

We all have 'fuck!that could have gone so badly wrong!' moments with our kids (I've certainly had a few)

Some people just shouldn't have kids-im not being a bitch (I'm hardly perfect myself) but some just don't care

It's beyond me why they bother

Bloody hell the whole family sound like an absolute shit show. I'm honestly shocked. I guess I knew these people existed but I've never met any IRL.

She rocked up and sat at a table

The ds sat with his back to me and as I got to them,he turned round

I don't shock easily but Jesus on a pushbike-he didn't have a face-it was stitches,blood and a bit of skin

He'd been sent round to the house,sat down and reached for something

It went for him-hes very lucky to be alive

It's the only time I've ever been able to tell him apart from his brother

Not HER fault-she only sent him round to the house

I've seen her dc in the street alone,throwing stones at passing cars and playing 'chicken' (it's a game where you fling yourself out in front of a car to see it it stops in time)

The child (who was about 18 months old at the time) is very lucky the car in front of us did stop

We went to ring the police but she ran off with her sisters (who where younger than 5 at the time) and we didn't see where they went-they where that fast

Mum was nowhere to be seen (I've never met dad-im told hes from a culture where he doesnt do anything with his dc)

I'm honestly amazed ss are not all over this family/one has ended up dead

You've done everything you could have done. The situation with the XL bully sounds horrendous. I'm also surprised that wasn't in the news tbh.

We have reported her to the police (along with the fools who allow their kids to hang out of car windows) but they don't do anything

I don't know where she lives/kids go to school (I know their first names but not surnames) or I'd be banging down the door of ss (she's a customer,i dont know her personal details like surname or address)

She's a joke-she sent her ds round to a house that had two of those xlbullies and one almost tore the lads face off (I saw him afterwards-it wasn't pretty-im amazed it wasn't picked up in the papers)

Not her fault-it's the fault of the owners,she was innocent

She sent him round,she knew that dog was dangerous,she laughed about the dangers until it happened to her/the ds

She's a shit mother but I do know the schools have raised concerns with ss (she was bleating on about it) so hopefully something will be done before a child is killed (which won't be her fault)

One of her ds's is part of a gang and she doesn't give a shit-ignoring her dc is the least of it

It's bloody frustrating as the family need help but I can't do anything (and believe me,I get a sniff of where they go to school/a surname/address and I'll report her)

It sounds like I'm making excuses but I do report her to the police everytime (which is about as far as I can go)

That's just so so awful 💔 that poor little girl. I've been to an AI place in Portugal with a friend a few years back where the parents' main focus was just getting drunk and being twats.

I'd have been so furious with those parents. I get they were acting defensively because they were scared etc but to get angry with you?? You had just saved her life. I don't understand some people at all.

Yep, that's the thread that this one reminded me of. That could have so nearly ended in tragedy. 😕

Jeez! You still work there? Please report these parents to social services next time it happens. Those poor, poor kids. & thank you for being so vigilant in the meantime.

Thanks. I think for some reason they thought I was too little for it to affect me long-term, but it definitely did.

Urrgh can't bear to see kids in pushchairs in direct sun. Even if the child is shaded by the hood they will be so, so hot. My friend's daughter's friend, (F22), forgot to put suncream on her back a few weeks ago whilst abroad with a group of friends. One of the Canary Islands I believe. Her back was so blistered and infected she's had to visit the burns unit 10 times to get dressings changed nows she's home and has been told she'll be left with life-altering scars. She was in so much pain flying back from that holiday she couldn't sit down on her seat and her parents had to take her straight to a&e. She was admitted immediately so it was obviously very serious. I hate the way many people don't take heatstroke/sunstroke/sunburn seriously enough plus water safety especially when on holiday too & when kids are involved.

I used to work next to the personal injury team in an open plan office. Hearing about a child dying of secondary drowning gave me some sleepless nights, I can tell you.

On holiday currently and I fished two brothers who were drowning each other out of a very deep pool on the first day of our holiday. Parents on sun loungers, the mum came over to ask me what I was doing….
they were fairly confident swimmers on their own, but one got into difficulty, the other tried to help and they just kept pulling each other under. It was awful to see.
they continued to be in the pool unsupervised even after I pulled them out.

Because he slipped and somehow knocked himself out as he hit the water

Just goes to show accidents can happen I a second

Agree. Mine had swimming lessons from babyhood and were strong swimmers but I still stayed within the pool work them until they were into their teens