Every parent wants to keep their children safe and sound, and the absolute worst nightmare for any mom or dad is losing their little one. Sadly, even when parents do their best, danger can strike at the most unexpected moments, as one Northern California family recently learned.
CBS Sacramento reports that McKenzie Kinley, a 9-year-old girl, was simply swimming around in the family pool when she was electrocuted and killed by a faulty underwater light.
The incident occurred on July 14th at the home of McKenzie’s father in Citrus Heights. Little McKenzie, who was approaching her 10th birthday, was splashing around in the pool with her sister and some family friends.
While swimming, McKinley made contact with an underwater pool light that was in the middle of being repaired and hadn’t been covered up properly. When McKenzie got too close, she was exposed to a lethal electrical current.
McKenzie’s father, Cliff Kinley, was out running an errand at the time of the incident, leaving his girlfriend to watch over the children.
It was while Cliff was out that he received the worst possible phone call any parent can ever get; his girlfriend was on the other end of the line, telling him that there had been a horrible accident and firefighters were trying to revive his daughter.
It was the most devastating phone call I’ve ever received.
Tragically, the efforts of the firefighters were not successful.
McKenzie had been swimming with her younger sister and three other friends, who all made it out of the pool safely.
According to Cliff, McKenzie was a lively little girl who loved to swim, as well as going on fishing and camping trips. McKenzie’s mother, Lisa Moore, added that her daughter “was just a lot of everything.”
One of McKenzie’s school friends, Aaron Hernandez, called her “kind and loving”, adding that “she could be friends with anyone that she met no matter what.”
Clearly, McKenzie was a lovely and sweet little girl, taken from this world far too soon, and her family have been left absolutely devastated by this terrible event.
Taking any kind of positive out of this situation or seeing some kind of silver lining in such a dark cloud is almost impossible, but McKenzie’s parents do, at the very least, want to use their daughter’s tragedy to raise awareness around pool safety. Moore stated:
If nothing comes from losing my daughter, at least this could save others.
Many parents wouldn’t ever think that something like this could happen, but the harsh reality proven by McKenzie’s story is that terrible accidents really can occur when we least suspect them.
Hopefully, if nothing else, this story will remind people to get their pool lights checked and thoroughly repaired to prevent any risks to their families in the future.
Meanwhile, a Go Fund Me page has been set up to help the family cover the costs of McKenzie’s funeral. The fundraiser has already exceeded its $15,000 goal.
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