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Community raising funds after 2-year-old drowns during Florida vacation
She was airlifted to a Miami hospital
Leland
Forsyth County resident Leland, 2, was found unconscious in the pool of a vacation rental.

Parents of a toddler who was found unconscious in a swimming pool in south Florida are accepting donations after she was airlifted to a Miami hospital.

While vacationing with her family in the Florida Keys, a 2-year-old Forsyth County resident named Leland was found unconscious in the pool of a rental home the family was staying in at about 10:52 a.m. on Friday, April 9. She was before being taken to Fishermen’s Hospital in Marathon, Florida and then flown via Trauma Star to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, according to information from the Monroe County Florida Sheriff’s Office. 

MCSO officials said, according to detectives “adults lost sight of the child, before finding her in the pool shortly thereafter” and “CPR began immediately.”

“Foul play is not believed to be a factor in the incident,” the release said.

Friends of Leland’s family have started a GoFundMe page, which can be found at https://bit.ly/2PWSaLE, to help her parents with expenses. As of press time on Monday, more than $36,000 had been raised. 

"They are in Florida and will be for a while,” the GoFundMe page said. “Expenses don’t stop and bills will continue. Please reach into your heart and donate so that the family has the ability to stay with their beautiful baby and help her fight. We are so grateful for all the help you will give."

In an update posted on Monday morning, Leland’s father, Benjamin Rudeen, said the funding would help the family pay for lodging and treatment.


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