Police in Sarasota, Florida, have confirmed that a 10-year-old girl died Sunday at Siesta Key Beach after being pulled under by the strong current. Little Irys Wright was reportedly enjoying a swim with several other children over Memorial Day Weekend when it happened. Tragically, by the time emergency responders arrived, it was already too late for the little girl.
Irys wasn't the only swimmer caught in the riptide current that day, according to WFLA.
Responding deputies found a woman and two other children struggling to make it to shore when they arrived, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office. Both EMS responders and several bystanders rushed to their aid, and all three were eventually rescued and treated.
However, Irys could not be saved.
The 10-year-old was brought to shore unresponsive and later declared dead due to drowning.
Her family is understandably devastated, but so are all who knew the little girl.
On Monday, her teacher, Amy Rietschel-Furick, set up a GoFundMe page to help support Irys' family through her loss.
"We have lost a very precious angel, Irys Wright who was one of my 4th grade students this year," the teacher wrote in the page description. "I am asking for prayers and funding for the family. I want to be able to help the family give Irys the burial her beautiful heart deserves. The family is already dealing with financial worries and I want to help ease everything and anything I can for them.
"I am at a loss for words as Irys is very special to me and truly an amazing little girl," she added.
A walk in Irys' honor is being planned by her family for 6 p.m. Friday at Spook Hill Elementary School in Lake Wales, which she attended, Bay News 9 reported.
Irys' drowning over Memorial Day weekend came at what's typically the start of summer fun for many Americans.
Of course, many of us are still navigating what this year's summer "fun" will truly look like, as states are just now starting to open back up with new guidelines and restrictions.
Sadly, the 10-year-old's death serves as yet another warning about water safety — especially when children are involved.
“This girl couldn't be sad. I don't think I ever saw her sad. She was just amazing. She literally was just an amazing, well-rounded little 10-year-old," her teacher told Bay News 9.
"I can't imagine being the mom and then living with her her whole life and then having to lose this angel, literally," Rietschel-Furick added. "She would do everything and anything for anyone at any time."
Believe it or not, drowning is the leading cause of death for children 1 to 4 and the second leading cause of death among kids 5 to 9 years old.
(Learn more about those statistics in this sobering chart from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.)
According to a new report by the New York Times, some experts also fear the summer of 2020 will see a spike in drowning deaths among children, with more accidents occurring in backyard pools when a parent's back is turned.
The worry isn't just about toddlers sneaking past the pool gate, either. (Though that's a concern too.) Even small kiddie pools pose a risk.
"You’re thinking, 'Oh, it's a kiddie pool. It's only six inches of water,'" Adam Katchmarchi, executive director of the National Drowning Prevention Alliance and assistant professor of kinesiology, health and sport sciences at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, told the New York Times. "Well, if a kid's flat, facedown and can't get up, they are submerged underwater."
For more information on water safety guidelines, check out the CDC's official website.
