Toddler Drowns In 5-Gallon Mop Bucket While Alone For 4 Minutes

A toddler drowned in a 5-gallon mop bucket just 10 days before her first birthday. The little girl fell into the bucket Saturday evening at the family’s home in Creston, Montana. Daily Inter Lake reports that Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry says baby Mariella Dalimata tragically tipped headfirst into a 5-gallon bucket that the family used for mopping; it happened around 10 pm.

The state Crime Lab in Missoula says what happened to the toddler’s body following the drowning “is consistent with an accidental death.”

Brook Schwab, the girl’s aunt, shares that the family is completely devastated by the Mariella’s death.

“We were planning to have a birthday party. We weren’t planning to have funeral expense.” says Schwab.

First responders tried resuscitating the girl, but were unsuccessful. She was pronounced dead at a hospital in Kalispell.

The toddler’s mother, Kayla Dalimata, is urging parents with young children “to be aware of just how quick drowning can happen.” If a toddler drowns in water after being left alone for just a few minutes, death can occur. Schwab says Mariella was left unattended “for not even four minutes.”

Schwab has helped set up a memorial fund to pay for funeral expenses at GoFundMe.org. The family’s church, St. Matthew’s Catholic Parish, will also help manage the funds.

It doesn’t take long for a child to drown in water. A toddler nearly died after she fell headfirst into a toilet. The Inquisitr wrote on this story back in 2012.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children ages 1 to 4 have the highest drowning rates.

The CDC facts page reads:

Children ages 1 to 4 have the highest drowning rates. In 2009, among children 1 to 4 years old who died from an unintentional injury, more than 30% died from drowning. Among children ages 1 to 4, most drownings occur in home swimming pools. Drowning is responsible for more deaths among children 1-4 than any other cause except congenital anomalies (birth defects).Among those 1-14, fatal drowning remains the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death behind motor vehicle crashes.

It’s easy for parents and adults at times to think taking their eyes off a small child even momentarily will be alright, then a terrible thing like drowning happens. It’s not just large bodies of water like pools, ponds, or lakes where young children should be supervised. It can be the something like a toilet, small stream of water, or a mop bucket — as in this case.

[Image via GoFundMe.org]