It is a parent’s biggest fear – and for Carolyn and Paul Turner their nightmare became a reality.
The couple, who live in Locks Heath, were enjoying a happy moment with their three children swimming at a friend’s pool.
Jessica Turner
They covered up the pool up for the day and hung their towels out to dry on that sunny day.
Their daughter Jessica was playing in front of Carolyn, but, in the blink of an eye, the youngster had disappeared.
After frantically searching for her 21-month-old daughter, Carolyn’s worst fear came true. She pulled the pool cover back to discover Jessica had drowned.
“At the time the whole thing was unreal and it happened so quickly,” said 40-year-old Carolyn, of Priory Park.
“We were all calling for her. We checked the house and the garden and eventually there was nowhere else to look.
“I went and pulled the cover off and she was on the bottom. I jumped in and pulled her out.”
After her own attempts and the ambulance crew’s attempts to resuscitate the youngster, she had died by time they reached the hospital.
Despite the five years since their daughter’s death – in July 2008 - being a major struggle, Paul and Carolyn have raised almost £35,000 for charity Child Bereavement UK which helped them during their a tragic time.
And Carolyn plans to add more to the bucket with a five-day dog sledding challenge through the wilderness of Northern Lapland on March 24.
With friend Louise Simmons, the mum-of-three will be driving a team of huskies more than 200km, looking after the dogs’ harnessing, feeding, cleaning and so on while they travel across frozen lakes and through forests.
Carolyn and Paul Turner with their children twins Chloe and Elissa and Millie
Sleeping in the wilderness and having to prepare all camp food will be tough for Carolyn, but it’s all for a great cause.
Carolyn added: “When I got to the hospital, there was no support. They took her to the mortuary and then I woke up the next morning and she wasn’t there.
“Nothing was going to bring Jessica back, so I thought, ‘what’s the point in talking about it?’
“CBUK do many things and train professionals how to deal with families when they’re bereaved.
“They’re there as much or as little as you need them.”
Paul, 46, and Carolyn do as much as they can for the charity and in the past they hosted a ball and 50s and 60s night, completed the 2011 London Marathon and Paul cycled from London to Amsterdam in 2012.
As the years go by since the accident at their previous home in Hemel Hempstead, Carolyn said the memory of Jessica will never fade for them and their other children 12-year-old twins Chloe and Elissa and three-year-old Millie.
“It still seems like it happened last summer holidays,” she said. “Our way of coping is the fundraising we’re doing because it gives us what we call our Jessica time.
“Anything in training is what we call our Jessica time, because we can’t give her anything like we can give our other children, like a bath.
“To have that focus keeps her memory alive.”
To sponsor the challenge visit www.justgiving.co.uk/jessica2013.