A 6-year-old girl whose intestines were partially sucked out by a swimming pool drain, leading to tougher safety legislation, has died, her family's attorney said Friday.
Abigail Taylor's parents were with her when she died Thursday at Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, where she had surgery to receive a new small bowel, liver and pancreas several months after she was injured.
She suffered setbacks, including a cancerous condition sometimes triggered by organ transplants, family attorney Bob Bennett said.
A hospital spokeswoman, Kara Haworth, confirmed Abigail's death but said she could not comment further and Abigail's doctors were not available Friday.
Abigail, of Edina, was injured June 29 when she sat on a wading pool drain at the Minneapolis Golf Club in the suburb of St. Louis Park; its powerful suction ripped out part of her intestinal tract.
Her parents, Scott and Katey Taylor, lobbied for tougher regulations to help prevent similar injuries, and in December, Congress approved legislation in December to ban the manufacture, sale or distribution of drain covers that don't meet anti-entrapment safety standards.
The legislation, the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, is named for another victim, the 7-year-old granddaughter of former Secretary of State James Baker. She drowned at a graduation party in 2002, when the suction from a drain pinned her.
State Sen. Geoff Michel called the Taylors "a very amazing family" after he learned of Abigail's death. He said Scott Taylor had promised his daughter that he would get the law changed.
"They have held up and been held up for such a tough, tough road. I just feel terrible for them," Michel said.
Bennett said the Taylors wouldn't be available to comment Friday. In November, the family brought a lawsuit against the golf club and Sta-Rite Industries, the pool equipment manufacturer owned by Pentair of Golden Valley.
Gretchen Koehn, president of the Minneapolis Golf Club's executive committee, sent a note to club members notifying them of Abigail's death. The club's "hearts and prayers" go out to the Taylor family, she wrote.
