Olympic skier Bode Miller’s distraught wife broke down in tears as she described the life altering moment she discovered their 19-month-old daughter floating in their neighbor’s pool.
Miller and his wife, beach volleyball player Morgan Beck Miller, lost their daughter, Emeline, in June after she fell into a pool during a neighbor’s party.
‘There is not a day that goes by and I don’t pray for an opportunity to go back to that day and make it different,’ Morgan said in an emotional interview on the Today show, Monday. ‘But now we have this opportunity to make other parents’ days different.’
Olympic skier Bode Miller’s distraught wife Morgan Beck Miller broke down in tears as she described the life altering moment she discovered their 19-month-old daughter floating in their neighbor’s pool
‘There is not a day that goes by and I don’t pray for an opportunity to go back to that day and make it different,’ Morgan said in an emotional interview on the Today show,
The couple relived the horror of the day they lost their little girl.
‘It was a normal day. Every morning, the kids would go swimming and Bode would go swimming with them, and they’d be in there for hours. And they loved it,’ Morgan said, adding that Emmy had ‘zero fear of the water.’
The family went to a birthday party before Morgan and Emmy spent the afternoon visiting with friends and grandparents. They returned home to say goodbye to Bode who was taking his oldest daughter to her softball game.
‘He was loading up the car when we got back and I gave him a kiss. And out of nowhere, she (Emmy) leaned over and gave him another kiss. And we were so amused by her reaction because it was not typical of Emmy,’ Morgan recalled tearfully. ‘So I kissed him again and she did it again and we laughed. Then I turned around and I walked inside and she waved and said bye to her Dad.’
Miller and his wife, beach volleyball player Morgan Beck Miller, lost their daughter, Emeline (pictured with Bode), in June after she fell into a pool during a neighbor’s party
Emeline (pictured left and with her father, right) slipped through a back door at the house and was discovered in a pool shortly later. She was taken to a hospital where she died the next day.
Morgan said that, as they often did, she and her four children went to visit one of their neighbors who she described as like ‘family to us.’
‘We go over, back and forth, multiple times a week,’ she said. ‘And it was just a normal day over there. We sat on the sofa and she played in front of us.’
Morgan says she was enjoying a cup of tea while Emmy ran back and forth. But suddenly, she got a sinking feeling in her stomach.
‘All of the sudden, it was just too quiet for me,’ Morgan said. ‘We’re in mid-conversation and I stood up. And I turned and I went right to where the boys were and I said ‘Where’s Emmy?’
But it was then she spotted that the door, that lead to the backyard, had a ‘tiny sliver of light coming through the side.’
‘My heart sank and I opened the door and she was floating in the pool. And I ran and I jumped in.’
Morgan began CPR and dispatch audio captured the panicked 911 call made by family friends.
Morgan said that, as they often did, she and her four children went to visit one of their neighbors who she described as like ‘family to us’ on the day of the tragedy
Suddenly she realized it was ‘too quiet’. When she went to look for her daughter, she found her in the neighbor’s pool
Bode said that he was still at the softball game, hearing them trying to revive his daughter, over the phone.
Doctors were initially hopeful Emmy might survive but tragically, she’s been deprived of oxygen for too long. She died in hospital.
The couple are now hoping to use their personal tragedy to educate other parents about the dangers of drowning – the leading cause of unintentional death for children ages one to four.
‘It’s the number one way that you could potentially lose your kid. And if it’s number one for me, I want to know about it,’ Bode said, adding that he felt an ‘obligation’ to help educate other parents, which in turn was healing for them.
‘I’ve been to all the pediatrician’s meetings and check-ups on our kids. And I can’t say it’s come up one time. Not a single time.’
The Millers had their own pool fenced off so their children couldn’t fall in and had enrolled their older children in drowning prevention classes.
They did everything right, but Morgan, who was in tears, said it took just seconds for tragedy to occur.
Morgan and the children were at a neighbor’s home when Emmy was found floating in the pool (Miller’s home circled in red on left, scene of the drowning on right)
Bode Miller’s wife has opened up about her heartbreak after their little girl drowned in a neighbor’s pool last month
Miller took to Instagram to share a sweet snap of his daughter and wrote: ‘We are beyond devastated. Our baby girl, Emmy, passed away’
‘Guilt is a very painful thing,’ Morgan said. ‘And even though it’s awful and living with it is terrible, and I hope and pray and beg that it gets easier, I am now much more aware in that area to make sure it doesn’t ever happen again.’
The volleyball player explained the importance of scanning the surroundings of a house to make sure there were no open areas of water that could pose a threat.
‘When you go to someone else’s house, survey the home to see if it’s a safe place for your child to be,’ she said.
Morgan, who is pregnant, said that after losing Emmy, she wasn’t sure how she could bring a new child into the world.
‘Emmy was so excited to be a big sister. She walked around all the time with her baby. And now we have the opportunity to get to love that baby not only for ourselves, but for Emmy,’ Morgan said. ‘She was such a bright light and she was determined.’
‘She was just a bear. She had such a powerful bull-like personality where she just did what she wanted,’ Bode said.
The couple said their other three children have been a source of strength through their loss.
Morgan, who is pregnant, said that after losing Emmy, she wasn’t sure how she could bring a new child into the world. This photo of Beck, pregnant, with Emmy at a midwife check up was shared shortly before the toddler’s death
‘When they talk about her and share stories, they always have a smile on their face,’ Morgan said. ‘And they constantly remind us we’re still here. And it allows us to bring our focus back to the things we still have to be incredibly grateful for.’
The couple first shared the tragic news about their daughter in an Instagram post on June 11.
‘We are beyond devastated. Our baby girl, Emmy, passed away yesterday,’ they wrote.
‘Never in a million years did we think we would experience a pain like this. Her love, her light, her spirit will never be forgotten.
‘Our little girl loved life and lived it to it’s fullest every day. Our family respectfully requests privacy during this painful time.’
Miller and Beck Miller wed in 2012 and have a three-year-old son, Nash Skan. Miller is also father to two children from a previous relationship.
They are son Samuel, five, and daughter Neesyn, 10.
The couple announced they were expecting their third child together in a post on Instagram just weeks before Emeline’s death.
Miller, the most successful male American alpine skier of all time, has won six Winter Olympics medals, including a gold in Vancouver in 2010.
He retired from ski racing in October 2017.