HEARTBROKEN parents of a four-year-old girl who died after falling into a hotel swimming pool have told of the horrifying moment their dream holiday turned into a nightmare.
Little Indianna Rose Maddison got into difficulty while on a festive family break in Hurghada, Egypt, days before Christmas in 2017.
She had been staying with her parents, Tommy and Kelly Maddison, from Bishop Auckland, and her eight brothers and sisters, at the Jaz Makadi Aquaviva complex.
An inquest at Newcastle Coroners’ Court on Monday was told there were screams as holiday makers realised the youngster was unconscious in the water.
It happened at around noon on December 21, six days into their break, in a pool just three feet deep, yards from the family’s rooms.
Indianna Rose Maddison
The inquest heard Indianna was with her sister, Billiejean, while their mother tended to her younger daughter in a pushchair.
Mr Maddison, 48, said he was keeping an eye on all of his children, but had left the pool area briefly to fetch cigarettes from his room and to get pizza for the family.
Indianna, who was not wearing safety vest, had been ‘plodging’ on the steps while her brothers played in the pool.
Speaking at the inquest, Billejean, now 25, said she had dozed off while lying on a nearby sun lounger.
She said: “We were all together. Truth be told, I was asleep. I feel asleep.
“Everyone assumed we were all looking after her. I was not like a full night sleep, just a ‘shut eye’ sleep.
“I was woken up by the screams. I ran towards the screams. That was when I noticed it was Indianna.”
The inquest heard a German man pulled the girl from the water after his son told him she was in trouble.
In her evidence, Kelly Maddison said: “I heard Billejean shout ‘mam, its Indianna’.
“In shock I ran over to the pool.
“Someone told us a kid saw Indianna go into the pool and went to get his dad.
“By the time he got his dad, Indianna had gone under the water.
“The man pulled her out of the water and laid her by the side of the pool.
“When she was being pulled out she vomited water and food. She had a pulse, but she was not breathing.
“People crowded around her. A German doctor performed CPR.
“There were at least 50 other people around us pushing and fighting to do the CPR.
“There was nobody to control the crowd and to give Indianna space.
“People were running up the slides and running around the pools looking for lifeguards to help. We could not see the life guards anywhere.”
Mr Maddison, who was on his way back with the food, having paused to chat to a couple on their flight, said: “I heard the screaming. It was more shouting than screaming.
“People were pushing each other. I could not believe what was going on.”
Read more: Indianna's parents look for answers after pool tragedy in Egypt
Indianna’s brother found the hotel manager and the emergency services were contacted.
Indianna was taken by ambulance to an Egyptian hospital 35 minutes away, but while she was there started having seizures and a stroke.
It is thought she suffered brain damage before she was flown home to the UK on Christmas Eve.
She arrived at the RVI in Newcastle with her mother on Christmas Day morning.
Indianna Rose Maddison was a pupil at St Andrew's Primary School in Bishop Auckland
Indianna died on Boxing Day, 2017, after doctors advised her family her condition had dramatically deteriorated and there was little chance of survival.
Giving evidence, Dr Susan Jackson, the paediatric consultant anaesthetist in the intensive care unit at the RVI, said: “She was unlikely to survive.
“Should she have survived, however, unlikely, she would have been in a vegetative state.
“On those grounds we counselled the family to withdraw treatment.”
The inquest continues.
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