On May 28, 6-year-old Collin Kinsey experienced a non-fatal drowning in a pool while on vacation in Florida with his family.
“When we finally came home and I walked through that front door, I thought about how thankful I was to be coming home as a family. Things could have turned out very different,” said Christen Kinsey.
Non-fatal drowning is described as a drowning incident where the victim survives.
“The pool was only 4 feet deep. That’s it. Collin was able to bounce off the wall the day before, 10 minutes before. He just accidentally slipped in and fell to the bottom and couldn’t get back up. There was a family 3 feet from him that didn’t see it happen. That’s how fast it can happen,” said Kinsey.
“We give the glory to God,” she said. “He perfectly lined up timelines and His hand was on every single detail that happened.”
Kinsey hopes that by telling their story, they will raise water safety awareness. Having an adult watching at all times, making sure children have swim lessons and life jackets, as well as making sure swim wear is bright and visible are all things that Kinsey says she will pay far more attention to now.
Kinsey said Collin was completely back to his “spunky” self after his ordeal. He just graduated from kindergarten, started summer school yesterday and attends baseball practice.
Collin and his eagle-eyed sister Charlie, who alerted the family that Collin had sunk to the bottom of the pool, will be attending Oak Grove Elementary in the fall.
“I do not know how she saw him at the bottom of that pool. With the color of his suit, we couldn’t see him at all,” said Kinsey.
Thankfully, big sister did spot him and they were able to pull him from the water and immediately begin CPR.
“Bailey Farmer Wells began CPR. A wonderful woman, D’Lynn DeBenedetto Jones, who is also a nurse was coming up from the beach and saw what was happening and jumped in and helped Bailey and because of the quick actions of these two women and the power of God, Collin is a living, breathing, perfectly healthy 6-year-old boy,” said Kinsey.
The color of children’s swim wear is very important and should always be taken into consideration, she said. Bright and vibrant colors are far more likely to be visible than light colors and pastels.
“I couldn’t see him on the bottom of the blue pool because he had a light blue rash guard shirt on and a pair of blue trunks with a few bright colors in them. I couldn’t see him until I was right on him,” said Kinsey.
Collin only had to spend one night in the hospital.
“They checked his lungs around 6 that evening, they still had fluid in them and by 8 that night, the fluid was completely gone,” said Kinsey. “Most non-fatal drowning victims have some neurological issues. He does not. The nurses and doctors at the hospital called him the miracle boy.
“Nurses would come in and know details about the story we hadn’t told them. But they were all amazed. He was standing up and playing video games 14 hours after he drowned. He’s such a miracle and we want the world to know what God did.”
Kinsey said she wants others to learn from her horrifying ordeal.
“We want to raise water safety awareness. It’s so easy to let your guard down,” she said.
“I pray our story saves someone else’s life. I know we have a more healthy respect for water. We also hug our babies tighter. Hold them longer. Never say ‘it won’t happen to me’ because you don’t know that. God had His hands all over us on Saturday and continues to now as we navigate through everything,” said Kinsey,