TAMPA, Fla.— A Tampa mom is sharing how her daughter drowned in a pool because she doesn't want other parents to live with her pain.
Sonya Hawkins posted about the incident on Facebook, and it’s since gone viral.
She said it only took a matter of seconds for her world to be shattered.
Her 3-year-old daughter, Isla, was playing near the pool in April when Hawkins believes she slipped, was knocked unconscious, fell into the water and drowned.
Hawkins said Isla didn’t die because she couldn’t swim -- but because she was left alone for just a few seconds.
"So many people have realized just how quickly this can happen and that they need to be more aware around any body of water a bathtub, pools, lakes, oceans wherever. It can happen so quickly,” Hawkins said.
It happened April 23. Since then, not a day goes by for Jason and Sonya Hawkins that they don’t look at pictures of their daughter Isla Sayler. The 3-year old’s ashes are the centerpiece of photobooks chronicling memories they made as a family.
“She would make us smile so much. She would make strangers smile. Now that she’s gone I would never want another parent to experience this pain.”
Unable to sleep one night, Sonya posted about Isla’s death on Facebook. Her message to other parents is to never leave their kids alone.
“My daughter was left unattended for a couple minutes, and parents have been messaging us saying they do that all the time.”
Isla and her older brother were playing near the pool when Sonya says she went inside to heat up lunch.
“My son came in and said, 'Mommy can you go outside?' I said, 'Just a minute.' He has autism he didn’t understand the urgency.“
It was too late. Sonya tried giving her daughter CPR while she screamed for help from neighbors.
“It can happen so quickly in just a minute. I wish we could go back in time. I wish I went out there.”
The Hawkins hope others learn from their heartbreak.
“So many people have realized just how quickly this can happen and that they need to be more aware around any body of water a bathtub, pools, lakes, oceans wherever. It can happen so quickly.”
The Hawkins pool is screened in. All doors leading to the pool have deadbolts near the top, out of a child’s reach. They also have an alarm that goes off every time a door opens and closes.
Hawkins says the only thing that would have saved her child was supervision.
You can watch our extended conversation with Hawkins and her husband below.
Here is a list of resources to help prevent drownings.
