Star Swimmer Hayley Williams drowned in school pool
At the start of the summer I wrote about 6-year-old Tyji Chester who was autistic and who drowned on June 6th in a swimming pool that was next to his school. I have just heard about the death of 13-year-old Hayley Williams who was autistic and epileptic, and who died in December during a lesson at Ashgrove Special School in Penarth in Wales. Hayley dived into a hydrotherapy pool and failed to resurface; her death has been ruled accidental. While six adults were supervising six children in the hydrotherapy pool, Hayley’s personal supervisor “afraid of water and was watching from the poolside but another member of staff was ‘within arms reach’ when she suffered the fatal seizure,” according to today’s BBC News
Her mother Gaynor Williams told the hearing: “I don’t want to blame anyone but I think the person who was meant to be on a one-to-one with her should have been at her side at all times.
But she said the “great joy” of her daughter’s life was swimming.
“There is no way we would have allowed her to stop just because she was epileptic.”
Charlene Lyle, Hayley’s teacher, said that she swam “like a dolphin - she was such a beautiful swimmer. It would have been like caging an animal to stop her doing it.”
When I explained to a lifeguard at the pool today that “Charlie is autistic,” the lifeguard (a very young man) was clearly baffled—but I am glad that he kept a close watch on Charlie bobbing and floating, eyes shut, in the pool.
5 opinions for Star Swimmer Hayley Williams drowned in school pool
Jannalou
Aug 8, 2006 at 2:08 pm
If you’re afraid of the water, you shouldn’t go to the pool with a child under your care. Period.
I’ll take “my kids” swimming, and we enjoy ourselves in the pool, but we don’t go into deep water because I don’t dive. So if I can’t touch, we don’t go there.
I went to the wading pool with one of the kids when he was totally anti-smaller kids, and we had to leave because he was basically going to drown this other kid. Kept pushing the other kid under the water; kid would get up and the one I was with would push him under again. It happened maybe twice before I got close enough to actually haul him away. The kid’s mother glared at me and said, “He can’t swim.” And I understand the worry and everything, but really, even if the kid could swim that wasn’t going to help him in this instance. He was smaller than the child in my care. And I did the only thing I could do - I apologized and hauled my kid away and we left the pool. And from then on I was right next to him whenever there were other children in the vicinity, because he was into pushing them over (for whatever reason; never did figure that one out).
Of course, the mother of the smaller child was as far away from her child who couldn’t swim as I was from the bully, so neither one of us was where we should have been. (I should’ve been watching out for the safety of other kids, and she should’ve been right next to her child because it’s possible to drown in an inch of water, and he couldn’t swim, so it was more likely anyhow.)
Kassiane
Aug 8, 2006 at 4:00 pm
Drowning during a seizure is one of my big fears. I do not go into the water alone because of this. Even baths I keep the door open and notify the roommate, and keep emergency meds in easy reach.
Shame on that aide. She should be charged with negligence IMHO.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Aug 8, 2006 at 4:46 pm
I can’t understand why Hayley Williams had an aide who did not like to be in the water! Why have her working with a girl who liked to swim that much?
As good a swimmer as Charlie is, he needs to be watched like a hawk.
Kassiane
Aug 8, 2006 at 6:25 pm
I can’t understand it either. If it’s a class, swap aides for swimming days. Sheesh.
There are 3 autistic kids I’ve gone swimming with. 2 also have seizures (one easily controlled, one not). Even though all 3 were always within their depth & can swim fairly well, they were NEVER out of 3 stroke’s reach (I’m pretty fast). With neurotypical kids I’d do the same, were I entrusted with their safety in the water. When I coached special olympics swimming, if they were not comfortable with the stroke, I’d go down and back with them, and during their races I walked down the side of “my lane” (I had the ’slow, inexperienced’ lane. One ended up beating a kid who swam varsity for his school on his best stroke. Woo).
Water safety, where has it gone???
Kristina Chew, PhD
Aug 8, 2006 at 7:25 pm
A former consultant of ours told us how an autistic kid he had worked with—a great swimmer—had drowned in his own pool. One can trust too much.
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