Bode Miller’s wife Morgan is opening up about the tragic day of their daughter’s drowning.
Nearly a year after tragedy struck, Morgan revealed in a new Instagram video she performed CPR on 19-month-old Emeline “Emmy” Grier after she found her floating face down in their neighbor’s pool in Coto de Caza, California.
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Despite the CPR keeping the little girl alive, Emmy died at the hospital the next day, PEOPLE writes.
“Time is not on our side when it comes to water, and even though my daughter was resuscitated, there was too much damage to her brain for her to survive,” she said overwhelmed with emotion in the clip. “It takes seconds.”
The video served a public service announcement for parents ahead of Memorial Day Weekend, in order to prevent similar tragedies from happening in the future.
Fans of the Olympic gold medalist and his family took to the comments section of the post to thank them for bringing awareness to the issue of childhood drownings, as well as sending well wishes their way.
“You ladies have absolutely changed the way I look at water and how I protect my little girl around water. Please know you’ve made a difference for us[red heart] Keep going, your babies would be proud,” one user commented.
“You have transformed something so sad and heartbreaking into something so powerful and inspiring. I hope parents from all over the world listen to your message. I am sure you save countless lives every day with all the work you have been doing to bring awareness to this topic,” Another fan wrote.
“This is an unspeakable tragedy and yet here you both are, educating others. Thank you from the bottom of my heart,” a third Instagram user commented.
Morgan was at a neighbor’s birthday party in June 2018 when Emmy drowned in the pool, after which she attempted CPR on her unconscious daughter.
“When I opened the door and she was floating face down in the pool…” Morgan, 32, recalled through tears in a CBS News interview the following month. “Every time I close my eyes at night to go to sleep, it replays in my head. But it happens so fast.”
Bode, Morgan and Nicole Hughes, who also lost a child in a drowning incident, have since teamed up to raise awareness and prevent similar tragedies in the future.
“Drowning is just as deadly and just as preventable as car accidents and as these illnesses. So if we could just approach it with that same urgency. It is 100 percent preventable. You can keep your child alive,” Hughes told CBS News in an interview earlier this month.
