Indiana’s Sloan and Maddox Mattingly were doing what every child does when their toes hit the soft sands of a beach. They started playing and digging.
But the sand, at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea beach, took on a life of its own and swallowed the two siblings, claiming the life of Sloan, 7, and leaving her brother Maddox, 9, fighting for his life in hospital.
And now the children’s parents and loved ones are grappling with the “freak accident” that took the life of the “purest human being.”
In mid-February, Therese and Jason Mattingly packed their two children Maddox, 9, and Sloan 7, and escaped the chilly winter of Fort Wayne, Indiana to the sunny beaches of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Florida.
On February 20, before 3 p.m. the family was making memories at the beach, the children playing in a large sand hole near their parents.
And then, the family vacation left them with a memory nobody wanted.
“Everybody’s screaming,” cried a beachgoer, who after seeing people frantically digging through a hole, called 911.
According to People, the caller told dispatch, “There’s a child that they’re trying to get out.” The caller then explained she heard the children’s father “yelling for help because his child is caught in a hole in the sand,” and while she was on the phone, the caller said the mom began yelling, “My daughter’s in there.”
Both Sloan and Maddox were trapped in the sand hole, which was burying the siblings alive.
Attempted rescue
NBC reports that multiple emergency agencies arrived at the scene and used support boards to prevent the sand from further collapsing, along with shovels to dig Sloan and her brother from the large hole. It’s not clear how long they were trapped before being pulled out.
Both children were taken to the hospital, where Sloan later died.
Maddox was listed in critical condition and as of now, the progress of his recovery is unknown.
