Father devastated by daughter’s death after pool tragedy in RAK holiday horror

Father devastated by daughter’s death after pool tragedy in RAK holiday horror

7DAYS May 19, 2014

source: 

Leila Baker tragically died last month after spending 23 days on a ventilator following an incident at a RAK hotel

A father has told how his family is struggling to come to terms with the death of his five-year-old daughter.
Leila Baker died last month after spending 23 days on a ventilator at Saqr Hospital in RAK. She was rushed to hospital after being found submerged in a hotel pool.
Her father, Mohammed Baker, who lives in Dubai, is currently waiting for the outcome of a public prosecution investigation into the tragedy, which happened during a three-day, family break in Ras Al Khaimah. He said Leila, his eldest daughter, suffered severe brain damage as a result of the incident on April 2 at the Hilton Ras Al Khaimah Resort & Spa.
“My daughter drowned on the second day of our stay. I had taken a week off work so I could spend quality time with my daughter, who was on school holiday,” he said.
Baker said the accident occurred about noon, when he and his wife had returned to their room to change.
“My daughter had earlier played near the children’s swimming pool with a girl from a neighbouring villa. When we returned to the room, she told her mother that she was going back to play with the girl,” said Baker. About 10 minutes later, Leila’s mother went outside, but could not see the girls.
“My wife started searching for her everywhere. She went to the swimming pool and asked the lifeguard if he had seen Leila,” he said. Baker added the lifeguard spotted Leila in the pool and dived in and pulled her out.
The guard then performed CPR with the help of a British guest who was a doctor. Baker said he believes Leila was in the pool for up to 20 minutes. She was taken to hospital, where doctors told the father that Leila was brain dead. She was pronounced dead just over three weeks later.

—————————————————————
RELATED LINKS:

1. Family of drowned diver to use money raised for rescue to help charities

2. Tragedy strikes as son is killed on same Dubai road where mother died

—————————————————————

Baker said his family was devastated, adding: “My wife suffered from psychological shock after she learned about the death of her child. She is still struggling to come to terms with it.”
Prosecutors are investigating the matter and said they had questioned two hotel emplo­yees, including a lifeguard. A spokesperson for the hotel said: “The wellbeing, safety and security of our guests are of paramount importance to us and we will, of course, continue to cooperate with local authorities as they investigate the matter.”
ismail@7days.ae