There is truly nothing as heartbreaking as a young death. This family experienced incredible heartbreak when a small mistake led them to pay a big price. Keep reading to learn more about this heartbreaking tragedy.
Twin toddlers, a boy and a girl aged 18 months old drowned in the family’s pool at their home after their great-grandmother who has Alzheimer’s apparently left the door open. The family resides in their Oklahoma City home which is where mom Jenny Callazzo found her 18-month-old twins, Locklyn and Loreli at the bottom of a murky pool on their property.
Both twins were unconscious when their mother found them. Two hours after they had been found, both toddlers had been pronounced dead. Callazzo is a stay-at-home mother who runs a boutique.
She lives at the $565,000 home where her children drowned with other family members. Her family includes her grandmother, her six children and her husband Sonny. Her husband is 42 years old and a marketing executive.
A relative told the media that Callazzo’s grandmother suffers from dementia and left the back door to the home open. The twin toddlers saw the open door and slipped out undetected.
Police are investigating the matter but do not believe any foul play was involved in these tragic young deaths.
Local media who took aerial shots of the home saw a murky pool covered with green algae where the twins are thought to have drowned. Just a few days before the tragic accident, 37-year-old Callazzo posted a picture of her toddlers outside with the caption “just want to play outside.”
Neighbors recall the harrowing moment they saw the distraught motherboard the back of an EMS vehicle as emergency workers tried to revive her children.
A GoFundMe account has been set up in order to help the family with the expenses associated with medical bills and end of life expenses.
“These beautiful babies were taken from us too soon. Anything you can give to help with expenses would be greatly appreciated. We appreciate everyone’s love and support,” the description for the GoFundMe page said.
Laura Gamino, injury prevention coordinator for trauma at OU Health has said she hopes parents realize how dangerous water can be for young children.
“Anything can happen in an instant,” she warned.
“Children are attracted to water and toddlers won’t have the skills to be able to help themselves get out of water … Drowning is very sudden, and it’s very silent,” she warned.
“Sometimes people have an idea that a child will have trouble in the water and be screaming, but they can’t because their mouth is full of water. So it’s very silent, and that’s one of the scariest things about it.”
Gamino urges parents and caretakers to build at least 4-foot-high fences around their pools with a gate so that young children are not able to open them.
This is such a heartbreaking story. Our hearts go out to the family as they deal with this insurmountable loss. Please join us in praying for the family as they go through this trying time.
