Family Warns Vacationers After Terrifying Incident Severely Injures Child

Last year, a four-year-old girl was seriously injured while on a family holiday in Mexico. Paloma Quatrini was staying at a resort in Punta Mita with her parents, Carolina Velez and Adam Quatrini. On the last day of her vacation, she was in a shallow pool at the Kupuri Beach Resort with her younger brother and cousins when the pool drain cover came off. It exposed the suction opening, and as Paloma sat in the pool, the Quatrini family says that it trapped her, resulting in the loss of her small intestine. She couldn’t be pulled away because of the powerful force, and it took several minutes to locate and turn off the pool pump. Paloma suffered severe internal injuries as her small intestine was pulled from her body. She was taken home to Pittsburgh and stayed in the hospital for two and a half months, where doctors performed seven operations. Her digestive system was reconstructed after the accident, but she lost her small bowel. According to her doctor, the small intestine absorbs nutrients from food, and without it, she depends on total parenteral nutrition to receive nutrients directly into her bloodstream. Last year, her parents filed a complaint in Pittsburgh, where they live, against the resort and the manufacturer of the drain, Hayward. They refiled the lawsuit in March, naming the company as the only defendant and demanding $150,000 in damages. The complaint states that Paloma will continue to have medical issues for the rest of her life. The family is also trying to warn other travelers about the dangers of pool drains and is asking parents to be cautious.