A MUM has issued an urgent warning to other parents after she claims her five-year-old daughter ‘nearly drowned’ in a lake after mistaking duck weed for the ground.
Maggie shared how she had visited a manor house located an hour from her home in Leeds and the incident had allegedly occurred as her child was playing.
Mum Maggie has shared a warning to other parents over duckweed in ponds[/caption]
The mum claims her daughter mistook the duckweed in the pond for the ground and ran in[/caption]
Speaking in a clip on her @maggienatters account which has racked up 265,000 views, she shared: “Something traumatic happened to us and I want to warn other parents as it could have ended very differently.
“We headed to Newby Hall, where I’d always wanted to go.
“It’s like a grand manor house with beautiful gardens, and it’s quite expensive, but I was like ‘let’s spend the whole day there. It’s a lovely, sunny day.’”
She initially had a “perfect” day exploring the adventure play areas with her daughter and playing in a water area with fountains for kids.
They then explored the lake area and went over a “rickedy” bridge to an adventure climbing frame.
Maggie continued: “I remember thinking at the time, ‘it’s quite dangerous if kids are running across this by themselves, there didn’t seem to be any barriers around or signs or anything.”
The scary incident allegedly occurred after her four-year-old had finished playing.
The mum claimed: “My [then] 4 year old’s climbing on it [the climbing frame] and I’m holding her hand while she goes over it.
“And she jumps off this climbing frame, and then she runs straight towards the lake.
“In my head, I’m like, ‘it’s a lake, she knows it’s a lake, she’s gonna stop. Or maybe she’s just gonna crouch down and put hand in the lake. But she doesn’t.
“So she runs and she keeps running, and she goes straight into the lake.
“And the reason why she does this is because at the time, the whole lake is covered in this bright green. I think it’s called duckweed.
“It was so thick that it made the lake look like a solid green surface.”
Maggie said she initially had a moment of terror as she claimed her then-four-year-old couldn’t swim.
She said: “We tried loads of different swimming lessons. She’s a bit sensitive to noise, she’s a bit scared of water in general, so we’ve struggled with swimming lessons.
“We’ve got some more booked, but at this moment in time, she cannot swim.
“She falls straight into the lake and goes under, like under the duckweed.”
She claims to have been visiting Newby Hall with her daughter when the incident occurred[/caption]
Maggie instinctively jumped in after her and she managed to grab hold of one of her legs and pulled her backwards and out the lake.
She added: “Bear in mind, there’s people everywhere, there’s families everywhere.
“We get out the lake and we’re both absolutely covered in this green pond duckweed.
“She’s screaming, she’s traumatised. I’m like shaking from what had just happened.”
The mum claimed some kind families gave her some spare clothes for her daughter and they went straight to the car where Maggie “burst into tears.”
She added: “If I’d been on my emails, on work, in work mode at the time that she went into the water, I might not have even seen her.”
Maggie claims she emailed Newby Hall about the fact they “have no barriers, no ropes, no post, no signage, no nothing to warn kids and parents about it.”
She concluded: “If you know it’s a risk, why on earth would you leave it that way?
“I just want to make parents aware that duckweed is a real problem.
“And as much as you and I might be very much aware that there’s water underneath that surface, even to super smart four year old, which my daughter is, it doesn’t look that way.
“So like, if your gut instinct’s telling you that something’s dangerous, it usually is.”
Duckweeds are small, free-floating aquatic plants that combine to form a green ‘carpet’ on the surface of the water.
A dense layer of duckweed can create a potential drowning risk, especially for small children, if it is mistaken for solid ground or lawn.
This can be a safety concern, especially around ponds or other bodies of water that are not fenced or covered.
Newby Hall has been contacted for comment.
Swimming safety advice
Experts have revealed some of their top advice for both adults and kids heading to the water.
How to stay safe at the beach
Gareth Morrison, Head of Water Safety at the RNLI said: “If you find yourself being swept out to sea in a rip, try to relax and float until you are free from the rip and you can then swim to safety.
“If you see someone else in danger, alert a lifeguard or call 999 or 112 and ask for the Coastguard.”
How to stay safe at the swimming pool
Tiny Hearts Education, former paramedic and CEO Nikki Jurcutz said: “Always put your little one in bright or contrasting colours that would be easy to find in an emergency.
“It only takes 20 seconds to drown, little tips like this could save a life”.
An Auqabliss spokesperson added: “Swimming toys such as noodles, dive rings, floaties and beach balls can be dangerous if left in the pool.
“Children may try to grab these from the pool’s edge and fall in.”
How to stay safe at a waterpark
Ali Beckman, Puddle Ducks Technical Director, said: “Never send a child down the slide on their own, not only are they going to be entering the slide pool area independently, they then have to exit the pool and wait for an adult.
“And wave pools should be avoided until your child is really confident with water going over their faces and you know they are able to regain their feet independently.
“Waterparks are often very busy places and it’s easy to lose sight of a child in a split second.”
