A quiet Sunday evening in Sarasota quickly turned turned into every parent’s nightmare. A 5-year-old girl is now fighting for her life in critical condition after being swept into a storm drain when a nearby water main burst.
Authorities say the girl had been playing near a culvert on Bahia Vista Street, just east of Honore Avenue and close to Sarasota Christian School, around 6 p.m. when the break occurred. The sudden rush of water pulled her into the drain. Firefighters searching the underground drainage system found her about 100 yards away.
Assistant Chief Tim Dorsey of the Sarasota County Fire Department described the operation as “a high-risk rescue.” He explained, “They planned the search area, located the girl, and immediately started resuscitative efforts before transporting her to Sarasota Memorial Hospital.”
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office is now investigating. Road crews have been working to repair the large hole left behind on Bahia Vista Street. Part of the road reopened Monday, though officials urged drivers to use caution in the area.
For neighbors, the suddenness of the accident was almost too much to process. “I can’t fathom what they are going through right now,” one neighbor told local outlet WWSB. “We are really praying, just really devastated for the family, but really praying for a miracle.”
Another neighbor, Tom McGee, said his doorbell camera captured the frantic arrival of emergency crews. “I saw the ambulance come up with a stretcher, and they went to where the water main break was, and then they all went running down the street,” he said.
One mother said her daughter, a friend of the victim, had been invited to play that evening. “They would have gone if they hadn’t been going to Grandma’s.”
The girl’s father told authorities his daughter has autism and struggles with social boundaries, which is why she grabbed an applesauce pouch from another child’s bag shortly before the incident. What followed was a chain of events no one could have predicted: the water main burst, the current surged, and in seconds she was gone.
In the aftermath, the Sarasota community has begun to rally around the family. A GoFundMe page created to help with medical expenses and recovery has started to draw donations, with neighbors sharing words of encouragement and support.
Mayor Kim Norton called the incident “heartbreaking,” saying, “We are all holding this family close in our thoughts right now.”
