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Girl, 3, seriously injured after having intestine sucked out in horror pool incident

The parents of a three-year-old girl are pursuing legal action against a drain company after their daughter was injured in a freak pool accident

[Paloma and her parents ]

The girl required months of surgery, her parents say(Image: CBS Pittsburgh/Youtube)

The parents of a three-year-old girl are pursuing legal action after their daughter was left with serious injuries after being sucked into a pool drain.

Paloma Quatrini was spending time with her family in a resort swimming pool in Mexico when its drain cover reportedly became defective, allowing the young child to be pulled towards its powerful suction, according to People magazine.

The girl, who was just days from her fourth birthday, reportedly became completely trapped in the mechanism, while her desperate parents tried to pull her free.

Eventually, the couple were able to locate an emergency off switch underneath the pool, at which point Paloma was able to be freed, according to the complaint.

[Paloma Quatrini,]

Paloma was seriously injured, according to the complaint (Image: CBS Pittsburgh/Youtube)

She was quickly rushed to hospital, where it was discovered she had suffered internal injuries. According to the recent complaint made by the parents towards company Hayward, who they say manufactured the pool drain: "the suction was so strong that [her] small intestine was ripped out of her body".

Paloma was taken to the Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh, where a doctor performed life-saving surgery on the girl.

Dr Geoffrey Bond told American news outlet CBS about the damage he had to deal with.

"All of the small bowel was gone. We brought the colon up and joined the colon to the small bowel, so essentially she's connected, but she has no small bowel."

"As a dad, firstly, it's a horrifying accident."

Two years later, five-year-old Paloma still has to have vital nutrients injected into her stomach and bloodstream due to issues with her internal systems.

[Paloma Quatrini,]

Paloma's family filed a legal complaint against the drain company(Image: CBS Pittsburgh/Youtube)

The parents' suit states that the apparently faulty drain was made by the company Hayward: "Because of the defective nature of the Hayward drain, [Paloma's] life was tragically altered, and she will endure continued medical issues for the rest of her life," the complaint reads.

"Hayward is saddened to learn of the injuries Paloma Quatrini suffered while at the Kupuri Beach Club at the Punta Mita Resort in Nayarit, Mexico, and we wish her a speedy recovery", a company spokesperson told People.

Hayward initially filed a motion to dismiss the original lawsuit, arguing that the incident took place in Mexico rather than Pennsylvania.

[a resort in Mexico]

The incident took place at a resort in Mexico(Image: CBS Pittsburgh/Youtube)

Palomas family has since refiled the case, this time naming only Hayward as the defendant. The lawsuit remains filed in Pittsburgh, as most of the witnesses involved are based in the area, according to attorney Robert Zimmerman.

A 3-year-old girl should not have to litigate her case in a foreign country where she was almost killed, the lawyer said in a statement to People magazine.

Zimmerman added, "The last thing these parents want to do is go back to Mexico, where this horrific incident occurred.

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