The parents of a girl, 7, who was buried alive at a beach say the potential dangers of digging a hole in the sand ‘never crossed their mind’.
Sloan Mattingly was playing with her brother Maddox at Lauderdale-by-the Sea in Florida when the walls of a 6ft deep hole they were digging caved in around her.
She tried to save herself by grabbing onto her brother, who was trapped with his head above the surface.
The pair were pulled out and taken to hospital but Sloan’s life couldn’t be saved after she had been buried beneath the sand for around 20 minutes.
Her mum, Therese, say they had ‘no idea how it happened’.
She told GMA: ‘We’re the kind of people that other parents or family members would roll their eyes at because we’re a little overprotective most of the time.
‘I think of everything. When we go to the beach, we think of water safety. And this never, ever once crossed my mind. And course now, looking now, I think “of course!” And so that part’s really frustrating.’
Footage shows a crowd of beachgoers using their hands to try and dig the children out of the sand.
Some even tried to hold the wall to stop more sand from collapsing on the children.
Therese wrote a tribute to her daughter on a GoFundMe page set up for the family.
She said: ‘A freak accident happened yesterday while we are here on vacation and it took away our greatest 7.5 years.
‘Don’t tell us you’re sorry for our loss… don’t do that to us. We experienced the purest human being and we are forever changed by her.’
Sloan’s father Jason also paid tribute, posting on social media: ‘Our baby is in heaven, love you too much Sloan.’
Sloan’s uncle Chris Sloan told KFOR-TV: ‘They were having a good time. Everybody was really excited to actually see them out there.
He added: ‘Later we found out that after the sand had caved, [Sloan] kept trying to grab up Maddox’s leg to get up out of the sand, and eventually he couldn’t feel her moving anymore.
‘The sand had been up to [Maddox’s] chest, and he was screaming for help, and a lot of people did come and help.’
Mr Sloan said his niece was ‘always happy’, with lots of energy and really fun to be around.
One witness, Harry Defina, told NBC 6 South Florida he thought the father had been helping the children dig the hole shortly before the collapse.
He added: ‘I could see the boy a little bit, but all I can see… was the top of the girl’s head. I saw the father was just beside himself.
‘It’s still such an upsetting episode to have been there.’
The Broward Sheriff’s Office said in a statement: ‘At approximately 3.16 pm on Tuesday, Feb. 20, Broward County Regional Communications received a call reporting two children trapped in the sand near 4424 El Mar Drive in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea.
'Deputies from Broward Sheriff’s Office, Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue, and Pompano Beach Fire Rescue acted immediately.
'At the location, first responders found two siblings, 9-year-old Maddox Mattingly and his 7-year-old sister, Sloan Mattingly.
'Medical personnel took the girl to Broward Health Medical Center. Later that day, Sloan Mattingly was declared dead.'
.
