A three-year-old British girl is in a critical condition after being found unconscious underwater in a hotel pool on the Greek island of Rhodes. The toddler – an only child – was pulled from the water and rushed to hospital where she underwent an MRI. Tragically, the results showed she had suffered brain swelling, and the hospital’s director, Michalis Sokorelos, has described her condition as “brain dead”.
After a few hours, she was airlifted to the Heraklion University Hospital in Crete. The horrific discovery was made around midday on Tuesday (October 14) at a hotel in Lardos, in the southeast of Rhodes, according to Greek news site Dimokratiki. CCTV footage shows she was in the water for at least 10 minutes, hidden from view by inflatable balls. A British doctor staying at the same hotel is said to have dived in to grab her and attempted to resuscitate her, but these efforts were reportedly unsuccessful. Police have arrested the toddler’s uncle, 44, and the hotel manager, 54, the local site reported.
“The child obviously stayed in the water for a long time. She is not reacting at all,” Mr Sokorelos said. “She was taken to the hospital at around 12.30pm. The incident is very serious.”
The CT scan has shown traces of brain activity and a neurosurgeon has said he still has hope.
Giorgos Chalkiadakis told ERT Heraklion: “The child arrived around 9pm and was immediately taken to the operating room.
“The CT scan showed minimal activity in part of the brain. We proceeded with a long surgery to decongest the cerebral edema.
“The surgery was completed in the early hours of the morning,” he continued. “The child remains intubated in the Children’s ICU. As long as she is breathing, we hope.”
The young girl’s family, who were visiting the popular Greek island on a late-summer holiday, also commented on the accident.
Her uncle’s lawyer, Antonis Zervos, argued is client “did not see and was not near the child”.
The hotel manager’s lawyer has also insisted that the pool was small enough not to legally require a lifeguard.