OMAHA, Neb. -- A 6-year-old girl who underwent a rare transplant surgery after her intestines were sucked out in a swimming pool has died in an Omaha hospital.
Abigail Taylor's family said she died Thursday evening. Bob Bennett is an attorney for the Taylor family. He said Abigail's parents were with her when she died at Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.
sponsor
NMC's Paul Baltes confirmed to KETV NewsWatch 7 that Abigail died at the hospital, where she has been under care since the operation. Baltes was not sure whether an autopsy or exact cause of death would be released to the public.
Abigail was injured when she sat on a pool drain, and its powerful suction ripped out part of her intestinal tract on June 29. She underwent transplant surgery in December at the Nebraska hospital to receive a new small bowel, liver and pancreas.
University of Nebraska Medical Center Chief of Transplantation Dr. Alan Langas said in December that Abigail was one of the oldest patients he's seen to receive such a transplant. Langas said at the time many transplant patients are under age 2 and some are even less than a year old.
The girl's father said she was "in and out of it" after the transplant.
After the injury, Abigail had to get her nourishment through an intravenous tube. If successful, the transplant should have allowed her to eat just like any other kid.
She later suffered setbacks, including a cancerous condition sometimes triggered by organ transplants.
In 2006, there were 96 pediatric small bowel transplants performed at 16 medical centers in the United States, according to UNMC. The busiest program was Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, performing 22 and the second busiest program was The Nebraska Medical Center, performing 14. The Nebraska Medical Center has performed about 4,800 solid organ transplants since the transplant program started in 1985.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported in November that Taylor's family filed suit against the pool manufacturer and the Minneapolis Golf Club.
"The suit blamed both the club, located in St. Louis Park, Minn, and Sta-Rite Industries, a pool equipment manufacturer owned by a Golden Valley company, for the accident, in which 21 feet of Abigail Taylor's small intestine were sucked out when she landed on an uncovered suction outlet in the kiddie pool in June," the paper reported.
In December, President George W. Bush signed The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act of 2007, according to SafeKids.net. The legislation provides incentives for states to adopt comprehensive pool safety laws that will protect children from life-threatening injuries and deaths from potentially dangerous pool and spa drains.
Ouch.
