Mar 21, 2008 5:52 pm US/Central
Girl Injured In Pool Drain Accident Dies
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
Abigail Taylor, the girl injured by a pool drain last summer, died Thursday night, the family's attorney said.
Abigail, 6, was sitting on a wading pool drain at the Minneapolis Golf Club in St. Louis Park, Minn. last summer when the drain's powerful suction pulled out part of her intestinal tract.
Since the injury, Abigail has been in and out of the hospital, and has had to get her nourishment through an intravenous tube.
She received a small bowel, liver and pancreas transplant in December and has suffered a number of serious setbacks since, including a cancerous condition sometimes triggered by organ transplants.
Bob Bennett, an attorney for the Taylor family, said Abigail's parents were with her when she died at Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, where she received her transplants.
"The world's less better off without Abigail Taylor," Bennett said.
It's not clear at this time what caused her death.
Abigail's injury led to federal legislation to make pools safer. Jer parents, Scott and Katey Taylor, campaigned for legislation that could help prevent similar accidents. In December, Congress approved legislation to ban the manufacture, sale or distribution of drain covers that don't meet anti-entrapment safety standards.
The legislation, the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, is named for another victim, the 7-year-old granddaughter of former Secretary of State James Baker. She drowned at a graduation party in 2002, when the suction from a drain pinned her.
Minnesota lawmakers are also considering new pool safety regulations.
Sen. Geoff Michel, who is pushing new pool safety regulations at the state level, called the Taylors "a very amazing family" after he learned of Abigail's death.
"They have held up and been held up for such a tough, tough road. I just feel terrible for them," he said.
Michel, a Republican from Edina, said he was optimistic that the bill would pass. "It was a pretty compelling case already," he said.
He said Scott Taylor had promised his daughter that he would get the law changed.
"He's made the promise and we want to help him fulfill that," Michel said.
Bennett said the Taylors wouldn't be available to comment Friday. In November, the family brought a lawsuit against the golf club and Sta-Rite Industries, the pool equipment manufacturer owned by Pentair of Golden Valley.
People can send cards to the family via their attorney:
Abigail Taylor Condolences
Flynn, Gaskins & Bennett, L.L.P.
333 South Seventh Street, Suite 2900
Minneapolis, MN 55402-2440
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
