A schoolgirl who died at a water park just days before her 12th birthday was “left to drown”, her grieving father has said.
Kyra Hill, 11, tragically died at Liquid Leisure water park in Datchet, Berkshire on August 6 after getting into difficulty in the water while attending a party.
The youngster had dreams of playing for the Manchester United’s women’s football side before the tragedy.
Speaking to Sky News, her father Leonard Hill said: “I am 100% sure Kyra could have been saved if Liquid Leisure and the staff had acted sooner and more urgently."
Mr Hill described his daughter as “one of my besties” with whom he had an “unbreakbale bond”.
He claimed staff at the attraction were slow to respond to the emergency. “They’ve ripped one of my closest people in life away from me because they haven’t acted in urgency,” he said.
“They hadn’t sounded the alarm with urgency, they didn’t call the emergency services in a fast enough time.”
The Standard has contacted Liquid Leisure for comment.
But a spokesperson told the broadcaster that the company was “heartbroken by the tragic incident" and "our thoughts remain with the family and those affected”.
It added that it was working closely with the relevant authorities on their investigations, meaning it was limited in what it could say.
Mr Hill, a father-of-three, said his daughter was found in the same area of water that she went down in, questioning if the emergency services were called quickly enough.
“I would say she was left to drown,” he said. “Because there is no way she can have gone down in that same body of water and it’s taken you over 30 minutes to contact the emergency services.
“She had a chance. But lack of urgency, lack of interest, lack of action, is the reason why my daughter is no longer here today.”
Thames Valley Police has previously said Kyra’s death was not being treated as suspicious and a file was being prepared for the coroner.
However, the centre has been told it cannot re-open yet by its local council on health and safety grounds until it can show action to prevent risk of drowning.
Liquid Leisure said its site in Datchet “has been operating for over 20 years and has welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors during that time".
“Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our visitors,” it told Sky News.
“We want to reiterate our deepest sympathies to the family and all those impacted by this tragedy, and will provide further updates when we can.”
