[acbny-l] Re: Fw: > LAKE CALHOUN: Blind girl who drowned was avid swimmer
- From: "John R. Jeavons" <jeavons@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <acbny-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 01:15:13 -0400
At all times? apparently not.
Apparently no one was with her between the request to go ashore and her =
drowning, or the finding of her cane.
Their technique of keeping tabs on the campers apparently didn't work =
this time.
what a shame.
John Jeavons
-----Original Message-----
From: acbny-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:acbny-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of CD
Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2003 6:33 PM
To: acbny acbny
Subject: [acbny-l] Fw: > LAKE CALHOUN: Blind girl who drowned was avid
swimmer
Got this from a friend and I agree with her statement before the =
message.
Carla & E-Dog
Well, I don't care how avid of a swimmer the little girl who drown was, =
she
still should have been watched by at least one sighted adult. I swim =
crooked
and I won't swim out by myself in a lake or river. Anyway here's =
another
article about the drowning.
LAKE CALHOUN: Blind girl who drowned was avid swimmer
BY JIM MCCARTNEY
Pioneer Press
Brianna Nelson was tired of playing Marco Polo, a game of swimmers tag, =
in
Lake Calhoun on Friday, and asked one of her counselors if she could go =
to
shore.
That was the last anyone heard from the 7-year-old blind girl from =
Grant,
Mich. Brianna, who is 4 feet 5 inches tall, was found about 60 feet =
from
shore
in four to five feet of water Friday evening, according to a report =
from
the
Minneapolis Park Police. Efforts to revive her were unsuccessful.
Brianna was one of eight students attending a month-long camp to help
blind
children learn basic skills and have a variety of "normal" childhood
experiences.
The program is operated by Blind Inc., a training program affiliated =
with
the National Federation of the Blind, and is aimed at helping blind
children
become independent, self-sufficient and employed adults.
The students, ages 7 to 13, were under the supervision of three
"experienced
camp counselors who were with them at all times," according to a =
statement
released Saturday by Blind Inc. They were swimming in an enclosed area =
in
front of the lifeguard stand.
The three counselors also were blind, said Joyce Scanlan, executive
director
of Blind Inc.
"When something like this happens, you do think about the fact they =
were
blind and wonder," said Scanlan, who is blind.
"But I believe that blindness - either in the child or the counselors - =
had
nothing to do with this. There are many sighted children who also =
drown."
She said that the blind counselors have techniques for keeping tabs on =
the
children, such as listening, touching and staying close to them. =
Although
the
children in past programs went swimming at Lake Calhoun several times a
week, there has never been an incident like this, she said.
"There's no blame here - it was just her time to go," said her father, =
Carl
Nelson. "We knew going in that the counselors were blind."
It was the first year in the program for Brianna, who was born blind as =
a
result of a premature birth, Scanlan said.
Brianna had been to many other camps, and she was very excited to go to
Minneapolis for the month, Carl Nelson said. She was a good swimmer, =
often
swimming
with her family in Lake Michigan, he said.
"She loved to play the piano, to bake with her grandma, to go fishing =
with
her one grandpa and drive horses with her other grandpa," he said. "At =
her
elementary
school, the kids would argue over who would walk her back to class from
recess."
Just a week ago, Brianna told her grandparents that she accepted Jesus =
into
her life, her father said. Bridget Nelson, Brianna's grandmother, said =
that
her granddaughter was "beautiful, wonderful, a very special little =
girl."
Carl and Danelle Nelson have another daughter, 3-year-old Abigail.
Brianna was discovered missing when a counselor found her white cane,
according to the park police report.
One of the lifeguards saw a counselor searching the water and asked if
there
was a problem, according to the park police report. While the =
counselors
checked
the bathrooms, the lifeguards set up a search rope chain with several
bystanders. Except for an hour absence, the group had been at the lake
since
3:30
p.m., according to the park police report.
Brianna was still within the roped-off area when she was found at 7:18
p.m.,
said Sgt. Brian Rodgers of the Minneapolis Park Police.
Resuscitation efforts by bystanders and emergency medical technicians =
on
the
scene were unsuccessful, and she was pronounced dead at Hennepin County
Medical
Center.
A key part of Blind Inc.'s 11-year-old "buddy program" is to enable =
blind
children to learn from adult counselors who are blind, Scanlan said.
Besides
swimming,
other activities are rock climbing, riding horses, roller-skating and
visiting such places as the Mall of America and the Science Museum of
Minnesota.
The children also learn such skills as reading Braille, walking with =
white
canes, and daily tasks such as cooking, taking out the trash and =
sorting
clothes
into appropriate colors.
The seven remaining children are sticking with the month-long program,
which
just began a week ago, Scanlan said. The children - three from =
Minnesota,
and
one each from Wisconsin, Illinois, South Carolina, and Florida - are
staying
at the Charles Pillsbury mansion in Minneapolis, which is headquarters =
for
Blind Inc. along with the National Federation for the Blind of =
Minnesota.
"We raised the question with the children as to whether we go on," =
Scanlan
said. "All the children chose to stay with the support of their =
parents."
Rodgers said his department's report has been forwarded to the Hennepin
County Water Patrol, who will determine if the incident warrants =
further
investigation.
Jim McCartney can be reached at
jmccartney@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Joanie
joaniemarie@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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