Francesca Blease, 11, was found floating face down in the children’s pool at the Club Jandia Princess Hotel in Fuerteventura, Spain, and died the following day
An 11 year old girl who was “terrified” of water tragically drowned in a “very, very shallow” hotel pool during her first family holiday overseas, an inquest has heard.
Francesca Blease, from Crewe, Cheshire, was discovered floating face down in the children’s pool at the Club Jandia Princess Hotel in Fuerteventura, Spain, after another guest spotted her motionless body. The youngster had been playing with other children for fewer than 10 minutes during the early afternoon of August 7 last year, though it remains unclear exactly how long she had been underwater.
HM Senior Coroner for Cheshire Jacqueline Devonish stated it “could not have been for very long”. Two holidaymakers – a midwife and an intensive care physiotherapist – immediately began administering “appropriate” CPR to Francesca beside the pool before emergency services arrived.
The girl was transported by helicopter to hospital in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, where she passed away the next day following severe brain hypoxia. Cheshire Coroner’s Court was told that Francesca was unable to swim and had no supervision, yet Ms Devonish noted that based on the evidence presented, there was no predictable danger for a child her age in such a “very, very shallow pool” measuring between 10cm and 60cm deep.
The coroner stated: “There is no expectation that this could have occurred. There was no reason for her family to believe that she could have come to harm in the circumstances.”
Francesca displayed no warning signs of distress, and fellow swimmers remained unaware of any trouble, the hearing was informed. No evidence of injury was discovered.
Ms Devonish stated there had been suggestions that youngsters in the pool were engaged in a breath-holding competition, though this was “simply hearsay”.
During testimony, consultant anaesthetist Dr Patrick Morgan, a specialist in drowning physiology, explained one theory was that Francesca – who harboured a “fear of water with no significant ability to swim” – lost her balance, became frightened and breathed in water.
Ruling her death accidental, Ms Devonish stated: “Unfortunately we do have an area of evidence where we cannot say for certain what caused Francesca to find herself in that position where she was face down in the pool.
“It is unfortunate that we have not been able to understand that.”
The coroner offered her sympathies to relatives present at the Warrington hearing and to those absent, including Francesca’s mother Joanne. In a statement delivered to the court, Ms Blease described her daughter as a “smiley, happy, healthy baby, which is also the child she grew into”.
She continued: “She had lots of friends and was very well liked by her teachers. She was never without a smile on her face.”
Ms Blease explained it was their maiden family holiday overseas and they visited the pool complex the day following their arrival. Francesca was “terrified” of water, she said, and did not want to play in the adult pool at the resort so she was allowed to go to the shallow children’s pool.
She had visited the reception desk to ask about holiday activities whilst Francesca’s grandmother sat on a sunlounger with Francesca’s younger sister, turned away from the smaller pool.
Ms Blease added that “a part of me died” on the day she lost her daughter. She said: “I feel her absence always like a constant missing piece.
“Francesa would light up any room she was in. She never had down days and could see happiness in everything.”
