A two-year-old girl accidentally drowned in a garden pond on Christmas Day after being missing for ‘a matter of minutes’, an inquest heard.
Isobel Abigail Maxwell was celebrating with her extended family at her parents’ new home in Doncaster when she stepped into the garden and fell into the pond, in what a coroner described as a ‘devastating turn of events’.
An inquest at Doncaster Coroner’s Court found that no one had seen her go outside and it was not known which of the three sets of doors Isobel had walked out of.
Coroner Louise Slater said that at some point during the day the family’s dogs were let into the garden and ‘it appeared as if a door had been accidentally left open’.
Isobel and her parents, Aaron Maxwell and Tamara Wallace, had moved into the house nine months earlier, hoping it would become their forever home.
Isobel had been playing with toys inside and accidentally knocked over a wax burner shortly before she disappeared from view.
Her mother tried to find the child to reassure her that she was not in trouble, but could not find her.
Mr Maxwell and Mrs Wallace planned to have the pond filled this summer and had installed a temporary fence, but it did not go all the way around the water.
In a statement to the inquest, Mrs Wallace said Isobel was a healthy child and was known as ‘busy Izzie’ because she was ‘always on the go – our little adventurer’.
Isobel Abigail Maxwell was celebrating Christmas Day with her extended family at her parents’ home in Doncaster when she stepped into the garden and fell into the pond.
Tamara Wallace and Aaron Maxwell with their daughter Isobel
She said there were 14 people in the house on Christmas Day and they finished eating around 2:30 p.m.
That afternoon, Isobel went from room to room, opening presents and playing games.
Mrs. Wallace said that at one point Isobel knocked over a wax melting burner in the hallway, and when she finished cleaning up she went to see her “to tell her it was okay and to be careful.”
When she could not find her daughter in the house, she went into the garden, followed by Mr. Maxwell.
She said this while they were searching: “I heard Aaron screaming and saw him holding Isobel in his arms. I fell to my knees.
‘I have no idea which door Isobel managed to escape from. No one saw Isobel leave. It was a matter of five minutes that she was missing.”
Mrs Wallace, who was pregnant with her second child at the time, began CPR until paramedics arrived and took over just before 5pm.
She continued: ‘Isobel had never shown any interest in the pond, whenever we were in the garden there was always someone with her. I just can’t believe this happened.”
Mr Maxwell’s statement described how he used his phone as a torch because the ground of the garden was dark. He said he saw Isobel’s dress and jumped into the pond to pull her out.
Mr Maxwell said: ‘I can’t remember if she was looking up or down, everything was blurry. I was in shock.’
He described leaving the house to try to find a defibrillator when he saw the paramedics arrive. ‘I followed the paramedics into the house. I felt so helpless, I didn’t know what to do,” Mr Maxwell said.
Attempts to resuscitate Isobel were unsuccessful and she was pronounced dead at Doncaster Royal Infirmary at 5.55pm.
Detective Inspector Danielle Duncan-Blakely, of South Yorkshire Police, said there were no suspicious circumstances and told the hearing: ‘It’s sad, they have to get on with their lives knowing they lost their little girl that day. They had another baby, I just hope they can get some joy out of it.”
Ms Slater said Isobel’s parents had chosen not to attend the inquest ‘due to the distressing circumstances’.
Noting the conclusion of an accidental death, she said: ‘I would like to express my deepest condolences for (the family’s) loss in these most tragic circumstances.’
Mrs Wallace previously paid tribute to her daughter, saying: ‘Isobel, my dear, sweet girl, our hearts are bursting with love for you, this is never a goodbye because we know you are close, mum and dad will see you soon.
‘Anyone who knows Isobel and us knows how gifted she was and that she lived more in her two years than some children live in a lifetime.’
