Dad Says ‘Mermaid Tail Swimsuits Can Kill’ After Daughter Almost Drowned: ‘I Really Thought She Was Dead’

“I never expected she'd pull it up over her arms,” Adam Lisberg recalled of the traumatic experience involving his daughter

• A father is cautioning parents against buying mermaid tail swimsuits, a popular children’s summer accessory
• Adam Lisberg said his daughter Annabelle almost drowned in an inflatable pool while wearing the swimwear
• "When I got over to her, her eyes were wide, she wasn’t moving, and at first I really thought she was dead," he recalled

A father is cautioning parents against buying mermaid tail swimsuits.

Adam Lisberg of New Jersey is speaking out about a traumatic experience from 2020, when he said his then-5-year-old daughter, Annabelle, almost drowned in a kiddie pool while wearing the swimwear.

The father said his daughters, Annabelle and Ruby, owned mermaid swimsuits with bottoms that mimic mermaid tails. "The girls love mermaids — always have," he told Today of their fascination. 

Still, Lisberg knew that the swimsuit style could pose some risks. "We knew that with it blocking their feet, it’s harder to kick or walk — and they knew that," he said. However, because the pool was shallow, Lisberg was less worried. "Even if they sit down, they can get themselves up," the father explained.

On a summer day five years ago, he stepped away from supervising his daughters while they were in the kiddie pool because his son Ben, 5 at the time, had started to make guacamole. 

"Every parent knows you have to watch every kid like a hawk, and you have to be careful all the time, but I thought, 'I have two girls in the pool keeping an eye on each other, right below the kitchen with the window open so I can hear them,” Lisberg told Today.

“Meanwhile, I have a son who's about to squish avocados all over the kitchen,' " he recalled. "I figured it was safe to go up and make guacamole with him while looking out the window."

But shortly after he entered the kitchen, Ruby, who was 7, entered the room and told him that her sister was not moving.  

"When I got over to her, her eyes were wide, she wasn’t moving, and at first I really thought she was dead,” he recalled. 

The father then performed CPR on his daughter before the paramedics and police arrived to take her to the hospital. 

Lisberg explained that Ruby had taken action when Annabelle was underwater and not responsive. "She got her sister completely out of the water. It was incredible," he said. 

Now, Lisberg is urging parents to avoid purchasing mermaid swimsuits.

"I want people to know that these mermaid tail swimsuits can kill," the father said. "They're adorable, they're cute, kids want them, our kids had one like that for years, and everything was fine, but I never expected she'd pull it up over her arms. Anyone who has a mermaid tail swimsuit ... should never get near water." 

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Lisberg detailed the accident in a 2020 thread on X.

He said Ruby told him that Annabelle "pulled that mermaid tail up to her shoulders and tucked her arms inside." Later, Annabelle recalled trying to "play potato" by lying down in the water and then found herself unable to free her arms to get up.

"Annabelle said she tried to talk, but the words just turned into bubbles," he wrote. "I will never get that image out of my head."

As for her recovery, Lisberg said Annabelle spent two days in the intensive care unit (ICU).

"Even a little water in the lungs, especially if it has chlorine, can spark a delayed reaction as the body fights the injury," the father wrote. "She had a temperature and elevated pulse and breathing for almost a day after. Needed oxygen to kick it."