The family of a two-year-old girl who died after falling into a garden pond on Christmas Day described her as happy, adventurous and full of life.
During joyous festivities at her parents' new residence in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, Isobel Wallace was found.
According to the girl's family, she was contentedly playing with toys when she momentarily vanished from sight.
Her relatives claimed they were "absolutely heartbroken" and that the "tragic accident" occurred despite temporary fencing surrounding the pond.
Isobel's mother, Tamara Wallace, said on social media that the two-year-old had been full of "adventure and fire" and that she "lived more in her two years than some children did in a lifetime."
More than £19,000 has been received through a fundraising page started by Isobel's aunt Abigail Maxwell for a memorial garden, funeral expenses, and parent therapy.
Maxwell called her niece "the happiest, smiliest, most adventurous & curious" child who "lit up everyone's lives."
She added:
“All of us are absolutely heartbroken. As you can imagine, this is the worst possible thing that could ever happen to parents, to lose their baby. She was so happy, so loved & they were the best parents who gave her the most wonderful life.”
Maxwell reported that on Christmas Day, her daughter and Isobel had been playing inside the house with their new toys.
She added:
“We couldn’t find her for a moment & in that moment, she’s gone in the garden & and fell in the pond.
A pond that was not there through choice but due to a house move, their forever home which they were renovating. A pond that had a temporary fence around it, in a garden she would never have accessed by herself. A tragic accident.”
Were any safety measures in place around the pond?
A temporary hedge had been erected around the theater pond at the family's Doncaster home as an introductory safety measure during emendations, but Isobel slipped through unnoticed amid Christmas fests.
The pond, part of their new" ever home," demanded endless walls like a locked gate or rigid essence tulle, allowing the toddler to wander compactly from family gatherings; no other advanced safeguards, similar as stir admonitions or full quadrangle, were reported in place.
UK safety guidelines from RoSPA and CAPT stress 1.1m-high fencing with tone- locking gates, rigid covers supporting adult weight, or raised edges for ponds, emphasizing supervision as the primary defense despite similar measures.