Six-year-old Skylar Gabriel, who was admitted to the intensive care unit of the San Fernando General Hospital after a near-drowning incident at a public pool in Gasparillo on Friday, continued to improve yesterday.
Gabriel, whom her mother described as having high-functioning autism, had also shown signs of improvement on Saturday, with her breathing moving from 35% to 50% while on a ventilator.
In an interview with the Express that day, her parents had also said that her condition was “looking up”.
Regarding the incident at the pool at Bumper Jumperz Fun Park, Gabriel’s mother, Desire Walters, had told the Express that it happened quickly and was a slip-up.
“Our backs were turned to her because we were unpacking for her. We were not there for long, and as soon as we got there, she went into the water right away. It happened quickly. It was a slip up.”
She said she was a good mother and, being a mother of an autistic child “you always have to be looking here and there, 24/7.”
Walters said there were no life jackets or lifeguards at the facility.
CCTV footage showed Skylar leaving the children’s pool and walking towards the stairs of the slide in the adult pool. She slid and entered the water but did not emerge.
Her parents searched for her for several minutes. She was removed from the pool by staff members and emergency medical personnel were contacted.
A spokesperson at the facility told the Express that Bumper Jumperz had been operating for the past 15 months. He said that there are signs that there are no lifeguards on duty and also stating that parents must accompany their children in and out of the pool.
While he admitted that in the past three weeks the facility was without a lifeguard, he said that they were searching for one. He added that there are steps in place that if an alarm is raised, a horn is sounded, the pool is cleared, and a search conducted. He also said that there are life vests while flotation devices were sold at an affordable price.
Friday’s incident came on the heels of the death of Angelica Saydee Jogie. Angelica was struck by a jet ski while bathing at Pigeon Point in Tobago.
