amber smith is partnering with the California-based non-profit organization, National Drowning Prevention Alliance (NDPA) ahead of the summer months to increase conversations and awareness about water safety and drowning prevention.
On June 4, 2019, Amber Smith and her husband, country music singer granger smithA parent’s worst nightmare was experienced when their 3-year-old son, River, climbed into the fence surrounding their family home’s pool and drowned.
After spending two agonizing days in the hospital hoping and praying for a positive answer from doctors about their baby’s condition, when the couple realized that a full life would not be possible, they decided to donate River’s organs.
Drowning prevention: Keep children safe in and near water with these tips
River Kelly Smith was just 3 years old when she drowned in the family pool. (Smith family)
“It was quiet, and it was loud, and there were other people outside and nobody heard anything, nobody saw anything,” Smith told Fox News Digital during a video interview. “I didn’t realize we had the number one killer in our backyard.”
Drowning is the most common cause of death for children ages 1-4, NDPA CEO Adam Cachmarchi told Fox News Digital over the phone.
“About 70% of child drownings are occurring while not swimming,” Cachmarchi said.
smith family They had just finished dinner and the three children were playing outside in the yard with Granger when River slipped through the fence surrounding the pool. Paramedics were able to revive River’s heartbeat. However, his brain was without oxygen for a very long time.
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River Smith’s birthday is on May 16, and his family honors him annually by treating him to sweets and delivering them to those in need. (Smith family)
“He was in the water within seconds,” Smith said.
Rivers was in his pajamas and almost ready to go to bed when the accident occurred.
“If water exists, drowning is a risk,” Cachamarchi said. “Layers fail, and all layers can fail. We never know which layer will fail, and which layer will prevent drowning, so it’s important to practice them all.”
Cachmarchi explains that there is no single solution to drowning prevention and that multiple protective layers are necessary to ensure a child’s safety near a body of water.
He recommends a holistic approach to water safety that includes barriers, alarms, parameter fencing, restricted indoor access, supervision, lifeguards, water qualifications, US Coast Guard approved life jackets and proper CPR training in case of emergency. Is included.
“Parents still need to practice layers of protection, even if their children are wearing a flotation device,” Cacchamarchi said. He recommends tactile supervision, which is when the parent maintains enough contact with the child in or near the water where they have the ability to reach out and touch them.
Smith said, “Our story is drowning, and part of it is sharing what we didn’t know, telling parents that they need locks and barriers and supervision and gates, and that they need water in their kids. Requires qualification.”
Before River’s accident, the Smith family had been using Puddle Jumper arm floats for their children. Smith says she does not blame the puddle jumper for her child’s death. However, today, she knows that the peeps were providing children with a false sense of security and putting them in a drowning situation,
Smith said, “We teach our kids that water is fun all the time, and we put them in an unsafe situation by making them wear floaties when they think they have the skills needed to survive, and they don’t. Is.” “We’re on a mission to share what a first game should be and that’s to give your kids the skills they need to survive in the water, so we’re calling it The First Game.”
First Sport is an NDPA campaign featuring talking babies encouraging their parents to enroll them in swimming lessons. Cachmarchi explains that although many parents want annual swimming lessons, there is a shortage of lifeguards and not enough funding for water safety. public health issue Across the country.
“We don’t have enough swimming instructors to teach every child in the country who wants to learn to swim,” he said. “There’s not enough capacity. We need to invest in community pool infrastructure.”
Amber and Granger Smith welcomed their fourth child, Maverick, in 2021. She started learning swimming at the age of just 8 months. (Smith family)
Some parents across the country are hesitant to enroll young children in classes for fear of the child swallowing too much water or crying.
“They won’t do anything that’s unsafe for your child,” Smith said of swim instructors. In August 2021, Amber and Granger welcomed their fourth child, Maverick, into the family. She says that she first started learning swimming when she was only 8 months old.
“He learned breathing control at 8 months,” Smith said. Maverick was learning to roll in water and find air. Smith and her husband brought Maverick back for lessons at 20 months old. Now, she says he floats in the bathtub.
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“It was hard to see him crying and calling for mom, but sometimes we have to do things with our kids that make it harder to give them the skills they need,” she said. “I’m willing to do anything to make the river cry again.”
Cachmarchi says there is a stigma surrounding child drowning deaths in America and that often, parents who lose their children to the silent killer are considered “bad parents.”
“It could happen to you,” he said. “It happens in 20-60 seconds. Drowning is preventable, we just need to keep it under control. No parent wants to think about losing their child in such a horrible and tragic way. They ‘This won’t happen to me.’ ,
The First Sport campaign will launch on May 1, 2024, which is also River’s birthday month.
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“We remember him on that day, and we always try to do something special for other people on that day,” Smith said of May 16, Rivers’ birthday. “We don’t say he’s going to be 7 or 8 or 10 or 20. He’s always 3.”
“The days they desired were fulfilled, those days also god was for himSo he’s always a 3,” Smith concluded.
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