Indianna Maddison: Family of Egypt pool death girl 'sure she would be OK'

Indianna Maddison died five days after being pulled from the hotel's swimming pool

The family of a British girl who died after an accident at a hotel swimming pool in Egypt said they were told she would recover from a brain injury.

Four-year-old Indianna Maddison was staying at the Jaz Makadi Aquaviva Hotel in Hurghada with her parents and eight siblings in December 2017.

The girl, from Bishop Auckland, County Durham, was involved in an incident in the hotel swimming pool on 21 December.

She was flown to hospital in Newcastle on 25 December but died a day later.

An inquest at Newcastle Coroner's Court heard Indianna had suffered a serious brain injury as a result of near drowning.

The hearing was told doctors at the city's Royal Victoria Infirmary told Indianna's family her condition was much worse than they had thought.

While she was in hospital in Egypt, her parents were told she had suffered seizures. She was said to have suffered a stroke on her last day before being taken home by air ambulance.

But a statement by her mother, Kelly Maddison, 42, read: "The doctor said Indianna was going to recover from the stroke because her body was young and still developing."

Indianna's father Tommy Maddison, 48, added: "There was never a doubt that Indianna was not going to be OK. We thought she might be disabled at most."

'Never took my eyes off her'

Indianna's parents said they had "a number of concerns relating to safety management around the pool at the time of Indianna's accident, as well as the medical care with which she was provided prior to the arrival of paramedics".

An expert report had concluded that Indianna had been in the water for about five minutes before being rescued.

Her parents said Indianna could not swim and had a life jacket and armbands that she would wear in the children's pool, but was not wearing them at the time of the accident.

Mr Maddison said he and his wife had been to the local town on the morning of the incident, leaving Indianna with her sister, Billie-Jean Maddison, 25.

Indianna and her family were staying at the Jaz Makadi Aquaviva hotel in Hurghada

When they got back, Indianna was playing around the heated pool outside the family's room, he said.

The inquest heard Mrs Maddison attended to the two youngest children while Mr Maddison went to the room to get some cigarettes before going to the snack area to buy pizza.

On the way back he had a brief conversation with another couple, then he heard screaming.

Mr Maddison told the inquest: "I never took my eyes off her. That's why I can never understand it.

"When I gave cigarettes to Kelly - at that point Indianna was on the steps. When I was talking to those people I was still glancing over.

"I had just seen her, I can't understand when they say it was five minutes."

'Pack of hyenas'

The family described the moments after Indianna was pulled from the pool as "chaos", with people "fighting to do CPR".

Miss Maddison said: "I would describe it as like a pack of hyenas around a little lion cub. Not in a bad way, they just all wanted to help."

The inquest heard that no medical equipment was "available or used" at the poolside.

Mrs Maddison's statement said the ambulance arrived after about 10 minutes but "it didn't seem like much of an ambulance" and there was no equipment inside.

'Horrible news'

When Indianna was admitted to the Royal Victoria Infirmary on arrival back in Newcastle she went into a cardiac arrest, the inquest heard.

A brain scan later showed there was "no hope for Indianna".

Mrs Maddison said: "I was heartbroken and so shocked. This was horrible news for me."

The couple stated they "didn't feel safe" at the hotel, saying that the lock on the door between their room and the pool did not work.

They said the steps to get into the pool were "very slippery" and they never saw a lifeguard at the pool where Indianna had her accident.

The inquest, due to last five days, continues.