ST. LOUIS — It’s been almost three months since Shaina Cain nearly lost her son when he began struggling in a hotel pool. Now, she has a mission to warn other parents not to make the same mistake she did.
Cain said May 14 started out as a normal day while she and her children were vacationing in Orlando, Florida. However, during their vacation, the kids were playing in the hotel pool when her youngest son, 6-year-old Kayden, started to struggle in the pool.
"So we were going to spend two days in Orlando, drive down to Miami spend two days there and then come back home. But on the second day the accident happened, and it took them about ten minutes to resuscitate him,” Cain said.
We first shared the story a few days after it happened. The family has since returned to St. Louis, but Cain said the fight to get back to normal is a continuing journey.
"These types of incidents we're looking at the kid, but it changes the whole family. I knew they couldn't swim but I was comfortable having them in water,” Cain said.
She said the reason she was comfortable is because playing in the water is something their family has always done. And she had plans to get her children swimming lessons once they got back, but it was just too late.
"You know I will always have a regret as a parent, but I don't have a regret that condemns me to be fearful about sharing the experience because it needs to be told," Cain said.
Statistics show every year in Missouri, nine children younger than 10 years old die of accidental drowning. Elizabeth Sugarbaker, a pediatrician at Ranken Jordan, said although the story was different for Kayden, he still suffered major damage from being submerged under water.
"When someone is drowned or drowning the brain becomes deprived of oxygen and so the longer that happens the more long lasting are the affects," Sugarbaker said.
Now Cain said she's set out a mission to help other parents be proactive about getting their kids swimming lessons.
"My son could have died and how dare I be ungrateful. So, it’s my job as a parent to exude nothing but positivity because his life depends on it," Cain said.
This incident has tremendously impacted their family and they have started a GoFundMe to help with those hospital expenses.
Doctors said another way to be proactive is to make sure there are life jackets present at all times to avoid incidents like this from happening.
