'We watched our girl take last breath on CCTV after terrifying phone call'

Daily Mirror

4 hours ago

The parents of a girl who drowned in a swimming pool have emotionally recalled watching her last breath on CCTV footage more than two years on from her tragic death that took place at a birthday party
The parents of a girl who drowned in a swimming pool have emotionally recalled watching her last breath on CCTV footage. Kyra Hill was just 11 when she swam into a wrongly marked area during a birthday party at Liquid Leisure near Windsor, Berkshire in 2022 and a frantic search around the area ensued, only to find that the little one had gone under.
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Her parents, Heather Parker and Leonard Hill, made an appearance on Thursday's edition of Good Morning Britain to remind the nation of their story, and her father insisted that there was some initial 'hope' that she had been abducted, only because that would mean she was still alive. While the footage that emerged after the fact confirmed the girl's terrible fate to the parents, they it was then that they were able to see the bubbles that turned out to be the tragic last breaths of their daughter.
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He told hosts Richard Madeley and Charlotte Hawkins: "It gave us the story, the first part is that watching it over and over again from the beginning, you see the area where Kyra had sunk was not searched until the very end and so all other areas were searched a[part from the place she was seen going under, which was deep water. Nearly 15 ft, but it was marked shallow water." It comes after reports of a dad's desperate phone call moments before explosion kills him and his daughters.
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"You would hope that...because there was more chance of her being abducted than there was more chance of survival than the period of time that she was under that water. Watching the CCTV, it's hard to believe that there was confusion as to where she was, her position was pinpointed at the time and I've watched the CCTV and I've seen her last breath. I can see a lifeguard standing and I can see her last breath, bubbles. She's come out, alerted someone on the radio, how is it her location hasn't been located?"
Kyra would've turned 15 on 18th August and her mother also made a bold statement as she recalled the horror moment that something had gone wrong at the party, and she simply couldn't believe that the little one would 'go missing' when she was simply in the water.
She said: "I think that when I got the call it was 'Kyra's missing...' and obviously I was like 'Where is she missing?' And it was the water, but you can't go missing in the water. You drown, you don't go missing!" She later remembered how Kyra was a keen footballer, but had a backup plan to become a lawyer. Richard Madeley pointed out to viewers that they had contacted the water park for comment, but claimed that they had not responded.
Viewers of ITV's morning show were left 'heartbroken' upon rediscovering the tragic story, and one wrote on X: "I can't understand how a LIFEGUARD trained underwater or not, would not attempt to save a drowning child? If this is the case, heads should roll. Those poor parents, whilst another admitted they couldn't "imagine anything worse" than what those parents had seen.
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A 17-year-old lifeguard spotted her going under and searched that part of the water before leaving to alert staff but 37 minutes passed between Kyra struggling and 999 being called, Berkshire Coroner's Court heard. Kyra was seen going under the water at 3.20pm and emergency services were called to the scene at 3.57pm. The 11-year-old was found just after 5.10pm and she was rushed to Wexham Park Hospital in Slough, where she was pronounced dead.
The inquest heard what happened at the water park in those minutes and hours after Kyra vanished. The Coroner's Court was told the 15 metre by 19 metre beach area was not cleared of people until emergency crews arrived. It was later determined that the girl was 'unlawfully killed' during the incident.
Watersport manager David Novell ordered searches on land and in other parts of the lake, but not in the designated swimming zone where she disappeared, the hearing was told. Conflicting and incorrect information started to circulate at the water park, including that Kyra left the water or swam to various locations.
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Novell told the inquest the first-responding lifeguard, named Abbi, appeared "confused" and was "unsure as to what exactly had occurred", given the contradicting reports that Kyra had exited the water. However, Abbi, then a schoolgirl, dived three times in the area where Kyra disappeared and CCTV showed her pointing there during a conversation with Novell and Liquid Leisure owner and director Stuart Marston.
A mother looking for Kyra said loud music was playing and that she shouted at a senior member of staff to turn it off. Kelly Edwards, who was at the birthday party, said she had to tell staff to ask members of the public to leave the area.
Edwards said the lifeguard, who appeared a "little girl", also told her daughter to keep searching for Kyra in the water. The mother said: "She (Kyra) was seen in the water, and for myself and for us we were told she was missing, so we were looking on the land, and to know someone had seen her and said 'I've seen someone gone down in the water', and for her not to be listened to. I couldn't, can't get my head around it."
She added: "It just felt like I was in this nightmare, the sort of thing you watch on the TV and you, you think, well, that would never happen."
The administration services manager recalled "shouting, screaming Kyra's name" as she walked around the park. She became emotional as she told the inquest: "It just seemed that nothing was taken seriously, nothing was deemed as an emergency, and I feel so angry with myself every day that I came out (of the water) and no-one went to the children and asked them where Kyra was."