Family mourns child who drowned

PARKLAND, Fla. (WSVN) -- A South Florida mother mourns the loss of her young daughter, who drowned in a pool.

Twenty-three-month-old Adielana Martinez was found floating in the swimming pool at the home near 6556 NW 78th Dr., on Aug. 14. The child's father was watching her as her mother, Stacy Martinez, was asleep and recovering from recent stomach surgery. "I wake up, and my husband's in the room, and there's a female police officer, and there's a male police officer standing by the side of my bed," said Stacy. "I asked him, 'What happened? What happened? What happened?' And he said, 'We were playing in the living room.' He was playing here with her, and she was playing with her toys, and he had to go to the bathroom. When he said he got up to go to the bathroom just for a few seconds."

In those few seconds, Adielana got up and made her way outside to the family pool. Stacy said, "And he said he found her face down by the steps, and then he picked her up. And when he picked her up, he brought her in here, and everything was coming out of her. It was all over the floor. He said, he brought her to the bathroom in the hall to try to work on her, and he called 911."

Adielana was transported to West Boca Medical Center by Coral Springs Fire Rescue. "I watched them pumping her heart, and I was watching the monitor, and I said, 'Is her heart beating or are you doing this?' I said, 'Just please, don't give up on her.' And I begged them, I begged them, I begged them, and I said, 'Please, don't stop. Please, don't stop this.' And then, I heard somebody say, 'We need to call the time.' I said, 'Don't call the time. Don't call the time. Don't call the time.' And they called the time, and I just went to her, and I held her," said Stacy. "She was still warm, and she was still soft, and I held her. She had stuff from where she had ate. I guess she threw it up. She had it on her face, and I cleaned off her face, and I just held her, and I kissed her, and I sang her favorite song to her, and I begged her not to go. I told her, 'Mommy really needs you. Please, don't go. Please, don't go."

According to Stacy, her other four children have kept her spirits up in spite of the tragic loss of her youngest child. "They were more worried about me than their own grief, and I'm really proud of them for that, because they didn't fall apart. They held themselves together, because I fell apart, because I'm always the leader of the family," she said. "But I have fallen apart, because I'm broken. I'm really, really broken over this."

Adielana's family is trying to prepare a proper burial for her. However, they are in need of financial assistance to do so. If you would like to help, please e-mail:

stacymclove@live.com

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