Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
MIAMI — If swimming is in your plans this Memorial Day, make sure the pool has been thoroughly checked for any potentially dangerous problems. Four kids from Miami were shocked by electricity and one died in the past month while swimming due to faulty wiring.
Chris Sloan's 7-year-old son Calder was swimming in his pool in April when a severe shock threw him out of the water. Police quickly discovered Calder died by electrocution and his devastated family hasn't returned to their home since.
“I think we’ll end up selling this house. I don’t think we can live here,” Sloan told the Miami Herald. “It was always a joy living in this house. Now it’s dark, cold."
Three other children were shocked swimming in an electrified pool in the Miami area just two weeks later due to a short in the pool pump. A surveillance video caught the moment on camera. Ten-year-old Diego Cabrera was one of those who felt the jolt.
“I was in the pool and then the metal railing, I was swimming close to it, and then I felt the shock," Diego told NBC News.
The apparently limp children were immediately rescued by adults.
"When they grabbed onto the metal railing, that's when they got the shock and they just — they were paralyzed," Mayra Diaz, the victims' cousin, told NBC News.
All three kids were hospitalized but have recovered.
(The Consumer Product Safety Commission) is aware of more than a dozen electrocutions and a similar number of electrical shock incidents involving circuits around swimming pools between 1997 and 2002. Electrical incidents involving underwater pool lighting were more numerous than those involving any other consumer product used in or around pools, spas, and hot tubs.
–CPSC website
Sloan has since created a website in honor of his son and to warn people to make sure their pools are safe.
"Calder had this incredible life-force about him, and we're just trying to get the word out to save lives,” Sloan told NBC News. “That's really what this comes down to."
The website, called Calder's Legacy, shares his story and the hazards of swimming in pools.
"(The Consumer Product Safety Commission) is aware of more than a dozen electrocutions and a similar number of electrical shock incidents involving circuits around swimming pools between 1997 and 2002," the website quotes. "Electrical incidents involving underwater pool lighting were more numerous than those involving any other consumer product used in or around pools, spas, and hot tubs."
But how do you know if there's a problem? Experts say if you notice any corrosion around stainless steel surfaces like lights and rails to turn off the electricity and contact an electrician immediately to check it out.
Pool owners can also get a ground fault circuit interrupter installed and switch their light bulbs to fiber optic lights, calderslegacy.com advises. Metal light fixtures can be replaced with newer, plastic ones.
For more information, visit the Consumer Product Safety Commission website.
