Water safety lessons from one of the sad parents

On the first day of his training, Henry was forced to dive at the bottom of the deep end, restore bricks and swim with it to the shallow end. Although he was strong and played, he found it difficult to do, and at least two of his colleagues were able to complete the task. When Henry returned to the house and told us about the exercise, he could only wonder if we had made the right decision. Will he be able to deal with physical rigor and emotional pressure for this job? Can we?

Getting safety safety was not easy. Henry almost missed his sister in the eighth grade due to the training of the Guard. But he persevered, obtained a certificate and was appointed to a group in our society. From the beginning, he was very turbulent.

On his first day in the swimming pool, his peers and supervisor surprised by their proactive request to determine the location of safety equipment. For Henry, water safety was not abstract. He was urgently real. He fully understood the importance of safety training and safe billiard management.

As statistics are carried out, drowning accidents occur all the time – even when many safety precautions are taken. It is very easy (even typical) to spend a parent or care providers while watching young children play in the pond of children, and worse, while he also tries to monitor their older children in the main pond. It is happening!

For rescue men, unexpected risk lies everywhere. Many swimming pools are crowded, and it may be difficult to monitor children who become hidden. In large swimming pools, vision lines often obscure columns and curves. Glow on water can hide the danger. The unexpected deviations of the guards can be particularly fraught with risk.

Despite the warnings of goodwill friends in the movement of drowning, pitfalls and risks (emotional and so on) have never overcome Henry. I feel very deeply and brave, given the tragedy that we lived with Zakari.

By the end of the summer, Henry came to save someone when he was offered to help an older man to move in billiard stairs on his way out. The man refused brilliantly, but Henry stood close to ensuring that the man was able to keep his foot safe.

No family should carry a child’s loss. When one of the parents turns to me, with fear and sympathy in their eyes, they often ask how they can learn from losing Zakari and preventing them from happening. We share easy life rescue tools, such as ABCDS to prevent drowning.

There must always be ADult present with a face contact on the child swimming. forThe effects, such as fences and gates, are necessary to restrict children’s access to water. Families must register CLasses – Children’s Swimming Lessons and CPR Training for Adults. DRain should be examined regularly for broken and/loose covers. And save the right life DEvices, that is, the survival jackets approved by the American Coast Guard, should be worn at all times in open water.

After losing our destructive family, I never imagined that my children would take over what has become my life. Henry may not realize what he would have to influence me when he agreed to the rescue experience, but his decision made me very proud. Its willingness is to be weak and address our family shock face to face is the source of strength and hope.

During the twenty -first Zakari birthday year, I look back and feel grateful for the lessons of life learned and an opportunity to prevent the tragic loss of others.

Karen Cohen participated in its founding Zach Foundation In 2008 with her husband, Brian Cohen, after their 6 -year -old son, Zakari Artcher Cohen, sank when his arm became detained in a gathering. Zakari’s memory is an inspiration for the institution’s mission and activities. The ZAC Foundation has funded the free water safety and swimming camps for more than 20,000 children in dangerous societies throughout the country and leads the development of drowning prevention plans in four American societies in the hope of reducing the rate of national drowning. Through her role in the ZAC Foundation, Karen witnessed the sub -committees of Congress as well as before government and federal agencies, including the Consumer Product Safety Committee and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She wrote about water safety issues in the major media, and she is also a guardian in the northeast of the clubs of American boys and girls.

This piece was originally ran HuffPost In June 2022 it is restarted as part of HuffPost Personal “Best of”.