A backyard pool party in Pierrefonds took a terrifying turn last month when an eight-year-old girl almost died. Sandra Zagury says she was relaxing by the pool when she noticed something was wrong. “I was lying on a chair, taking the sun when I suddenly heard a commotion,” she said. Thakshana Ganeshan, who does not know how to swim, had been in the shallow end of the pool. According to Zagury, the child was holding onto the edge when a bee began following her. In an attempt to escape, she drifted into the deep end and went underwater. By the time someone noticed and pulled her out, Thakshana was unresponsive. “As soon as I saw her, I saw that she was lifeless so, I screamed, ‘Call 911!’” Zagury, who is a physical education teacher, stepped in. “There was a couple next to me that were trying to help as well, but they didn’t know CPR, so they were just kind of shaking her.” Thanks to her training, Zagury performed CPR. Within a minute, Thakshana showed signs of life. “She coughed up water and that’s when I knew she was alive,” she said. The girl was rushed to hospital and has made a full recovery. Her mother, Umananthini Shanmugarajah, was not at the party, but says she will always be grateful. “She’s my hero. She [saved] my daughter’s life. I need to say thank you every moment.” Thakshana has asthma but despite that, Shanmugarajah says her daughter is now taking swimming lessons. Raynald Hawkins, executive director of the Quebec’s Lifesaving Society, says drownings are fast and silent. “When you have a backyard pool, you need to have someone who [knows] CPR.” According to the organization, so far this year, 40 people in Quebec have died from drowning. Five of those tragedies happened in backyard pools.
