In Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Florida, a tragic incident took place last Tuesday when 7-year-old Sloan Mattingly, a tourist, was engulfed and ultimately lost her life due to a massive sand hole collapse. A witness, Harry Defina, reported observing an adult, approximately in his 40s, actively digging what he described as an “18 feet wide and 6 feet deep” hole on the beach. This contradicts the assumption that the children, Sloan and her 9-year-old brother Maddox, who also fell into the hole but was rescued alive, were responsible for the excavation.
Defina recounted his encounter with the man and the enormity of the hole, stressing the impossibility of the children having dug it by themselves. The unfolding tragedy saw both children get swallowed by the sand pit, with Defina vividly remembering the desperate efforts to rescue them. Sloan’s father managed to save Maddox, but Sloan remained trapped for over 20 minutes before being declared deceased at Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale.
Therese Mattingly, Sloan’s mother, paid tribute to her daughter, describing her as the “purest human being” and expressing the profound impact Sloan had on their lives. The Mattingly family, vacationing from Indiana, has received an outpouring of support, including a GoFundMe campaign that raised over $145,000 for funeral expenses.
The community back in Fort Wayne, Indiana, along with the Burn Boot Camp gym where Therese was a member, rallied to support the grieving family. This heartbreaking incident highlights the dangers of sand hole collapses, with a New England Journal of Medicine report indicating 52 cases from 1997 to 2007, 31 of which were fatal, involving victims aged 3 to 21 years. The efforts to rescue Sloan, captured in video, demonstrated the frantic and communal attempt to save her life, underscoring the severity of such accidents on beaches.