Young Swimmer In North Carolina Electrocuted During Swim Team Practice | Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp

New reports reveal that an 11-year-old girl from North Carolina is dead after she was electrocuted while practicing with a local swim team. The girl was swimming with two other teammates earlier this month when an power line snapped and fell into a parking lot at the swim club in Lexington, NC. For reasons investigators still do not understand, the fallen line sent an electric current into the swimming pool.

The president of the local swim club said that she was standing nearby with a group of parents when she heard a loud noise and saw the wire fall. The president says she saw smoke and sent one of the lifeguards over to the pool to ask the three girls to get out of the water. The two other girls were able to jump out of the water, but when the 11-year-old grabbed the pool ladder a shock of electricity went through her.

Witnesses say the electricity prevented the girl from being rescued right away, as lifeguards who tried to get to her were shocked themselves. Lifeguards were not able to directly touch the girl, so they instead grabbed a nearby plastic board and used it to prop the girl’s head out of the water. Eventually the girl was taken from the water and CPR was administered, but it was too late and she was eventually pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

Investigators with the fire department in Davidson County say they are now trying to determine how the accident happened and figure out what caused the electricity from the fallen wire to be diverted into the swimming pool water.

Freak accidents like this one are incredibly rare but this does not make them any less tragic. After all, sudden losses like this are almost impossible for family members to prepare for and often deliver even worse emotional blows, especially when they involve such young children.

It’s our firm’s hope that investigators uncover what problem led the electricity to be routed into the water so that other children are spared the terrible harm that took place in this case. No parents should have to hear such terrible news and it’s up to the swim club to ensure that such accidents do not happen again.

If you recently lost a loved in a tragic North Carolina accident and are not sure how to move forward, it might be helpful to check out my firm’s answers to some frequently asked questions regarding wrongful death claims

Here’s a Google Map showing the location of the terrible accident:


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