FAULTY GRATE BLAMED IN TEEN-AGER'S HOT-TUB DROWNING.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Tanya Nickens' friends jumped into the hot tub and tried to pull her free, but the 16-year-old was hopelessly trapped by 12 tons of suction in a drain left unprotected by a broken grate. ``She's not coming up!'' one classmate exclaimed. Frantically they tried to bail out the tub with their hands, hoping to lower the water enough so the girl could breathe. Several minutes elapsed e·lapse intr.v. e·lapsed, e·laps·ing, e·laps·es To slip by; pass: Weeks elapsed before we could start renovating. n. before someone finally reached the emergency shutoff shut·off n. 1. A device that shuts something off. 2. A stoppage; a cessation. in the basement. By then it was too late. ``Everyone's eyes were on Tanya when they pulled her out of the water,'' said Carla Morris, 17. The girl coughed - ``We said, `All right, Tanya, you're going to make it,' and she went back down again.'' She was pronounced dead late Saturday at Jersey Shore Medical Center. Tanya had missed the junior prom Friday night because she forgot to pay a deposit. But she joined 300 high school classmates Classmates can refer to either:
At about 5 a.m., she hopped out of a swimming pool and into the 10-person, 3-foot-deep hot tub to warm up, ducking underwater to douse douse 1 also dowse v. doused also dowsed, dous·ing also dows·ing, dous·es also dows·es v.tr. 1. To plunge into liquid; immerse. See Synonyms at dip. 2. her hair. At the same time, someone flipped a nearby switch to turn on the whirlpool pump, which is on a 10-minute timer. The force of the water was 170 pounds per square inch Noun 1. pounds per square inch - a unit of pressure psi pressure unit - a unit measuring force per unit area , flowing through three 1-foot-square openings covered by plastic grates, county public health coordinator Lester Jargowsky said Tuesday. But one grate was broken in several pieces, he said, and the 12 tons of suction, generated by a 10-horsepower motor, pulled Tanya's thighs and buttocks buttocks /but·tocks/ (but´oks) the two fleshy prominences formed by the gluteal muscles on the lower part of the back. into the drain and pinned her at the bottom of the pool. A club lifeguard tried to pull Tanya free, but ``she couldn't move this girl an inch,'' said Kevin P. McHugh, the club's general manager. Jargowsky said the club met all codes and standards. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Tanya Nickens Pinned by 12 tons of suction 
I REMEMBER THIS NIGHT LIKE IT WAS YESTERDAY IT BRINGS TEARS TO MY EYES WHEN I THINK OF IT AND WHAT A TRAGEDY THIS WAS FOR HER FAMILY,FRIENDS & CLASSMATES. SHORTLY BEFORE THIS INCIDENT TONYA MYSELF AND SEVERAL OTHER GIRLS WHERE IN THE SAUNA SHE HAD JUST ASKED ME WHERE I GOT MY BATHING SUIT FROM BECAUSE SHE HAD LIKED IT...SHORTLY AFTER WE ALL WENT OVER TO THE JACUZZI AND WERE IN THERE TOGETHER AND I REMEMBER SAYING TO THE OCCUPANTS OF THE JACUZZI INCLUDING TONYA THAT THE WATER WAS TOO HOT SO I GOT OUT...SEVERAL MINUTES LATER FROM ACROSS THE POOL I SAW AND HEARD THE COMMOTION..AND COULD SEE EVERYONE TRYING TO COME TO TONYA'S AID ..SHE IS STILL MISSED TILL THIS DAY..EVERY NOW AND THEN I WONDER WHAT THINGS WOULD BE LIKE HOW SHE WOULD BE HOW SHE WOULD LOOK YEARS LATER SHE WAS A BRIGHT, FUNNY,BEAUTIFUL FUN LOVING PERSON. THE FUNERAL WAS SAD AND I REMEMBER HER BEING DRESSED IN HER R.O.T.C. UNIFORM..REST IN PEACE TONYA. FROM R.C. |
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