Soon after the pool accident that horribly disemboweled her, Abigail Taylor asked her father if she was going to be on television. When he asked her why, she reportedly told him that she would like to make sure that what happened to her wouldn’t happen to other kids. She got her wish – in December, President Bush signed a law that bans the distribution, sale and manufacture of drain covers that don’t meet entrapment safety standards, but Abigail didn’t live long enough to see the far reaching effects her case has had on swimming pool safety.

The 6-year-old died after a triple transplant surgery at Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

Life had been a never-ending series of surgeries after the horrible accident that occurred on June 29, 2006 at the Minneapolis Golf Club. Abigail was attending a graduation party and was playing in the wading pool. She got stuck on a suction drain that it turned out later had been left uncovered, the strong and powerful vacuum pinned her down. The suction was so powerful it sucked at least 21 feet of intestine out of the little girl.

So complete was the disembowelment Abigail lost the ability to digest food, and had to be fed pre-digested food directly. She lost a part of her liver and pancreas. Her injuries were so severe it’s a wonder she even survived as long as she did.

Last year Abigail’s parents filed lawsuits against the manufacturers of the pool drain, Sta-Rite Industries, as well as the Minneapolis Golf Club where this incident took place. Over the 19 months since the accident, her medical expenses have reached a staggering 30 million dollars. The amount is far more than the insurance amount that the club has. It could add up to more when you factor in pain and suffering of the little child.

Her parents have lobbied hard to force legislation for better safety measures in swimming pools. Pool safety measures have been in a state of limbo for many years, and over this time many cases of entrapment of clothes and hair in swimming pools have been reported, but no action was taken. It took one little girl’s tragic injuries to force lawmakers to act quickly. Why does a child have to be mutilated or die for us to act?

For at least one South Dakota family, the tragedy is a completely avoidable one. The Shubecks had their son Mike involved in similar accident 20 years ago, in which he lost a part of his small intestine. It’s unacceptable that accidents that occurred twenty years ago are allowed to be duplicated so many years later. As Paul Shubeck says, “This shouldn’t be happening. After 20 years and thousands of pool entrapments or hair entrapments and body part entrapments, and drownings and eviscerations, this shouldn’t be happening.”

This case has raised so many questions about pool safety – about why a wading pool with just a couple of feet of water had a suction strong enough to suck out a child’s bowels, and why a suction pump cover was left uncovered to begin with, and the numerous cases of pool entrapments that have caused so much suffering to parents and children around the country.

If you or a loved one have been injured or killed in a swimming pool related accident, you need the help of an experienced California personal injury lawyer. Contact an attorney at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.