Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Shaken Up :-(

Anniek is in the Sea Turtle swim lessons at the Aquatic Center on Mondays. During the class on Monday, January 12 Anniek's instructor turned her back on my daughter to hold up the other child in her class while he "swam" to the divider and back leaving Anniek by the wall.
Just as the instructor and the other child got close to the divider Anniek lost her footing and went under the water and the teacher did not even notice!
When Anniek resurfaced she seemed to take a quick breath but then went under again. As soon as I saw Anniek go under again, I got up and jumped in the pool fully clothed and grabbed her...which is when the teacher noticed that something was wrong!
The teacher said she was sorry that this happened and continued on with her lesson. She didn't mention the incident to anyone. I just sat there with Anniek on my lap trying to get her to go back in...with a life jacket on but she wouldn't. All Anniek wanted to do was sit on my lap for about the next 30 minutes. I then had to go home in soaked clothes.
When I got home I called my mom because I was very upset but I had no clue what to say to them or who to talk to...I had tried calling JoAnn to find out what to do but she was not home. My Mom called the Aquatic Center and talked to the Deck Supervisor who was upset that he had not heard about it as SOON as it had happened!!! But the teacher decided not to tell him and did not have an incident report filled out. I am so angry at the instructor...this should NOT have happened in any class, let alone in a class where there was 1 instructor and 2 children.
I called today and talked to the Aquatic Center manager to make sure an incident report is completed in order to make sure that they undergo the necessary steps to ensure this does not happen again. I asked for a copy of the incident report and was told I could pick one up at the Aquatic Center. The manager said that there was NO WAY that the instructor should have had her back turned and she should not ever be that far away from any child in the class...and there is no reason that a situation should have arisen that made it necessary for me to jump in to save my daughter's life. This was a terrible and frightening experience for both Anniek and me.

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