Dec. 20: Dad of severely injured girl will discuss pool safety

The father of a Twin Cities girl who was severely injured in a wading pool accident last summer and Sen. Amy Klobuchar will discuss pool safety legislation this afternoon at a news conference.

Scott Taylor also will provide an update on his daughter, Abigail, who recently underwent transplant surgery for a new liver, pancreas and small intestine.

The news conference is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at Minneapolis Children's Hospital.

Last summer, when the wading pool's suction tore away 6-year-old Abigail's small bowel, it looked as though she would spend the rest of her life sustained by a feeding tube.

But today, the Edina girl lay in an Omaha hospital bed, recovering from a rare triple organ transplant that could save her from the need for that tube.

Abigail remained in serious but stable condition, KETV in Omaha, Neb., reported Thursday, three days after she received a new small bowel, liver and pancreas in an operation that lasted nearly nine hours at Nebraska Medical Center.

It was June 29 when Abigail was playing in the wading pool at the Minneapolis Golf Club in St. Louis Park. She was trapped by the suction of an uncovered pool drain, the force of it rupturing her rectum and pulling out her small intestine.

She learned to use a colostomy bag, was fed through a tube and went to school with a nurse in tow.

Still, Abigail grew sicker and spent much of the summer and fall in the hospital, with so many transfusions and medical procedures that her parents lost count, said their attorney, Bob Bennett.

Early Sunday, the Taylors learned that transplant organs for Abigail would be available in Omaha. Friends and family cared for the couple's other three daughters as Abigail and her parents, Scott and Katey, flew to Omaha in a jet owned by Opus Corp., a Minnetonka-based firm.

One day, two big events

At 2:15 a.m. Monday, Abigail was wheeled into surgery.

Dr. Alan Langnas, chief of transplantation surgery at Nebraska Medical Center, led a large medical team conducting the complex procedure.

"It's a relatively uncommon transplant procedure, but it's done with some frequency in the United States," Langnas later told reporters. "Last year, there were 175 intestinal transplants performed and of them, more than half were multi-organ transplants."

But Abigail's transplant wasn't the only major news for Abigail and her parents Monday.

Just two days after the accident, Abigail had told her father she had some thoughts about the future.

"She thought it would be a good idea to tell our story on the news, so that no other boys and girls would have to be hurt in the same way she was," Taylor wrote to Klobuchar, D-Minn. "I have never been as proud of her as I was that day. Here lies a girl who has literally had her insides ripped from her body and she wanted to make sure that no one else would have to suffer the way she has."

He said it was a moment that guided him and gave him strength in the coming weeks. The Taylors pushed for a law to improve pool safety. They maintained that the pool industry has known for years the risks associated with drains in pools and spas, including entrapments, eviscerations, disembowelment and drownings.

Their daughter's story attracted powerful allies to their cause. Klobuchar and U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., co-sponsored a bill requiring that any pool drain cover sold or distributed had to meet safety standards to prevent entrapment.

Last Thursday, Klobuchar learned that a Senate agreement was reached and called Taylor.

On Wednesday she recalled that phone call as "really the most touching moment I've had as a senator ... being able to call Scott Taylor from the Senate cloakroom and tell him that the bill had just passed, and that it was going to be signed by the president."

The law is named for the 7-year-old granddaughter of former Secretary of State James Baker III. Virginia Graeme Baker drowned in 2002 after suction in a spa trapped her under water. Abigail's injury brought renewed momentum to reform efforts, which had languished, Klobuchar said.

So on Monday, Abigail got her transplant the same day Congress passed the pool safety law. On Wednesday, President Bush signed it into law.

'Amazing Abigail'

At Edina's Concordia Elementary School, Abigail's first-grade classmates wore shirts on Tuesday proclaiming "Amazing Abigail."

On Wednesday, they mailed her a book they had written: "26 Ways to Not Be Bored in the Hospital." It includes tips such as counting on your fingers to 699 and singing like an opera singer until the rest of the ward is awake.

"They all care a lot about Abby," teacher Stacy Sullwold said of her class. "They were happy to hear that she got the organs she needed."

Throughout the school, said Principal Rick Sansted, kids and their families made or bought Christmas ornaments so that Abigail will have a glorious tree in the hospital.

"The school is really supportive toward the family as well," Sansted said. "It's heartwarming to see a community come together and support people in times of need."

Challenges ahead

It will be a long road ahead for Abigail, who will be hospitalized for up to three months and spend three more months after that in recovery in Omaha.

But many who know this girl say Abigail has the spirit needed to come back strong.

"She has unbelievable spunk," said Klobuchar.

Joy Powell • 612-673-7750