A FATHER has spoken out after he watched his young daughter drown in a tragic incident at a water park.
Kyra Hill, 11, died at a birthday party after drowning in a designated swimming area at Liquid Leisure in Windsor.
7
7
An inquest previously heard how the water Kyra drowned in was marked as “shallow.”
Her heartbroken parents have now spoken out about the horror of watching their daughter take her last breaths.
Appearing on Good Morning Britain, Kyra’s father, Leonard, spoke about watching on in horror as his daughter sunk below the murky water three times while a lifeguard watched on and did nothing.
He described seeing CCTV footage showing the 17-year-old life guard fail to act while standing in the exact spot his daughter drowned.
Kyra vanished in August 2022 while attending the leisure centre with her family.
Authorities were called but the youth was tragically found over an hour later.
She had drowned in a body of water 2.68 meters deep despite a 17-year-old lifeguard managing to reach the exact point where she disappeared under the water.
An inquest into Kyra’s death heard that the lifeguard was unable to rescue her as the staff at Liquid Leisure were only qualified to perform “surface-water rescues.”
Kyra’s parents are now battling for tighter safety measures to be implemented at leisure centres in the hopes of preventing another tragedy.
They say that the lifeguard should have been able to rescue their daughter from drowning and are calling for better training to be provided.
Kyra’s dad described CCTV footage showing the lifeguard standing in a “pool of bubbles” at Kyra’s “pinpoint location” as his daughter took her last breath.
He told how he felt the lifeguard was “never going to dive under” to save his daughter.
Leonard added that the lifeguard had “not been trained, she was only trained in surface rescue” saying that the teen lifeguard was “not equipped with the right tools.”
Kyra’s grief stricken family are pushing for safety regulations to be improved around water parks, asking for CCTV to be manned at all times.
7
7
7
The couple pointed out that no emergency plan or protocol was in place at the leisure centre.
Kyra’s mother, Heather, said that despite CCTV footage capturing her daughters death no staff were trained or briefed on how to respond in an emergency situation.
CCTV footage at the pool was not being monitored she said, adding that it took more than an hour for the footage to be checked after emergency services arrived.
Shortly after the CCTV was seen, a diver managed to locate Kyra and pull her body from the water.
Kyra’s tragic death was previously ruled as unlawful at an inquest.
At the time the coroner commented on poor signage describing deep water as “shallow.”
The coroner, Heidi Connor, went on to describe the sings as “falsely reassuring.”
Ms Connor also commented on children being permitted to swim without buoyancy aids and parents not being advised to attend with a ratio of one adult per four children.
Rachel Marcus, representing Kyra’s devastated family, asked the coroner to consider a charge of gross negligence manslaughter by Liquid Leisure owner Stuart Marston.
She also called for an additional charge of corporate manslaughter.
The inquest found breaches included the lack of an emergency plan or a risk assessment.
The park’s owner was fined £80,000 in June 2024.
7
7
