'She Was Always Happy': Mother Grieves After 4-Year-Old Girl Drowns In Hotel Swimming Pool

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A mother is grieving after her young daughter drowned in a hotel swimming pool.

It happened at a family birthday party at a Moundsview hotel on Jan. 25.

Lamyah Reece, 4, loved to swim.

"She was always happy," mother Samiya Hammonds said. "She wanted to help everybody with everything no matter what it was."

Hammonds says Lamyah couldn't wait for the birthday party because it was at a hotel with a pool.

She dropped Lamyah off, and would later find out the girl would go down the pool slide to be caught by other people swimming. At some point, no one noticed when Lamyah went back in the water.

"The investigator called us and said that she went down the slide by herself and other people were walking past and didn't really see her," Hammonds said.

She was underwater for 5 minutes until anyone noticed. When she was pulled out of the pool, her 10-year-old cousin tried to give her CPR.

Lamyah was on life support in the hospital for several days before she passed.

"We just told her that we loved her and we'd see her later," Hammonds said.

Lamyah's mother is still processing the loss, but wants other parents to realize the tragedy can happen in an instant.

"Do swimming lessons," she said.

Something that gives her comfort, is knowing that Lamyah's organs were donated. Her heart went to a 1-year-old boy.

The family has set up a GoFundMe account. If you'd like to donate, click here.