People.com | August 27, 2021

By Joelle Goldstein

The parents of an Ohio student-athlete, who tragically drowned in a lake in May, are speaking out about the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning after their daughter’s boating accident.

Allyson “Ally” Sidloski, a soccer player at the University of Cincinnati, was just 21 years old when she died after going for a swim in a southwest Ohio lake.

NBS affiliate WLWT previously reported that Ally was not wearing a life jacket at the time of the incident and was seen hanging onto the swim platform of a boat before she disappeared under the water.

Ally’s parents, David and Tracie Sidloski, told Today in a recent interview that they were baffled by the news at the time because Ally grew up swimming in their backyard pool.

“I was confused because Ally knew how to swim,” Tracie explained. “It didn’t make sense.”

But a coroner later ruled Ally’s cause of death as drowning with a contributing cause of carbon monoxide intoxication, according to Today.

Carbon monoxide poisoning is considered one of the leading causes of boating-related deaths each year, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. In 2020 alone, the Coast Guard reported 15 accidents of boat-related carbon monoxide poisoning with five deaths and 41 injuries.

< READ MORE >