While a young girl who nearly drowned in Berks County years ago is making big strides, her mother is fighting to prevent future accidents.
"[Doctors] pretty much said 'you'll never have your child back again. She will be a vegetable for the rest of her life,'" Laura Kniskern, of East Cocalico Township, Lancaster County, recalled of the initial prognosis after daughter, Allison, fell into a pond.
The near-drowning happened in April 2008 when the family lived in Robesonia, Berks County. Kniskern was outside babysitting another child, and Allison wandered off.
The then-two-year-old was found by police roughly 20 minutes later in a neighbor's wide-open pond.
"She was dead to that point," Kniskern said.
After months in the hospital, Allison made a miraculous recovery. While she did suffer brain damage and resultantly faces setbacks like speech impairment, the young girl is by no means a vegetable. Still, many days are not without their challenges.
"She asks us about her drowning and why did this happen to her. She asks about it and she wonders," said Kniskern.
Kniskern believes that had that neighboring pond had a fence, her daughter never would have fallen in.
"There are so many children out there who have near drowns. Mainly they are children in ponds, not swimming pools, because [pools] have to be fenced," she said.
Now, she wants to see legislation that requires landowners to place fences or some type of protection around their ponds.
"If there was a law that they have to put some kind of fencing or protection around the ponds, this wouldn't happen," she told 69 News.
In the meantime, the mother urges other parents and caregivers to "just be aware of the surroundings with your small children, even older children."
from 69News:Home http://ift.tt/1ErLUOK
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