Mother speaks out after her 2 kids drowned over Memorial Day weekend: “If it don't look right don't do it"
PHILADELPHIA - A family in West Philly is grieving after two kids drowned in a pool over Memorial Day weekend.
FOX 29’s Cheyenne Corin spoke to the heartbroken mother just hours after she made the gut-wrenching decision to pull them off of life support.
Her son and daughter both died after drowning in a pool, and as she reflects on their lives, she also has a message for other parents.
"They weren't in there for more than like three, four minutes," said the grieving mom. "And then they called their names. I say, I don't think they were playing when they jumped in. They were at the bottom of the pool."
Brittney McWhite is preparing to do what no parent should ever have to do; bury their child. However, in her case, she’s laying to rest two children after her 11 and 14-year-old drowned in a pool.
"When we got there, I was like, okay I'll help set up the food. Kids were playing in the pool. They were playing a game where you go down Marco Polo and you hold your breath."
The mom goes on to say she didn't see her children.
"I was looking around or whatever I saw the water. I didn't see nobody," the mom recalled.
Which was a surprise, because she said both of her kids could swim.
The family was attending a Memorial Day weekend party in Gloucester County when the drowning incident occurred.
Monroe Township Police said they received a call at 6:46 p.m. for a report of the two kids drowning.
Although London Marie and Wadale were quickly pulled from the pool, the damage was already done.
For the past week, the siblings were placed on life support before the family made a difficult decision on Sunday.
"Keeping my child hooked onto a machine for the rest of their life is not ideally what any parent should want for their children, so today me and dad decided to end life support," she said.
McWhite described London Marie and Wadale as total opposites, but said they couldn’t live without each other.
London Marie would have turned 12 years old next week, and Wadale had just graduated 8th grade.
"I know they’re at peace, it's just very devastating," said McWhite. "Not to lose one child but two. I think that's more challenging because you can't stomach that, but you have to keep going."
Even during her time of grief, McWhite wants other parents to let her story be a reminder, especially heading into the summer and pool season.
"You can be in the water for a minute. Until you actually get a pulse, you're losing oxygen and in the severity case they lost a lot of oxygen."
To prevent drowning, the CDC suggests:
- Learning basic swimming and water safety skills
- Having a fence that encloses the pool
- Supervising children closely
- Wearing a life jacket
- Learning CPR
"Always have a set of eyes. Prevent your kids from playing games. Make sure the pool is safe. Make sure if it doesn't look right, don't do it. Because once you lose your child, it is hard. It's really hard to stomach," said McWhite.