It was another chlorine soaked day at the pool. The boys and I woke up early and decided that we were going to beat the heat by swimming. Big Guy was practicing his skills on his skim board while Little Guy and I were throwing the football. Little Guy throwing the football farther and farther. I noticed he was drifting closer and closer to the rope which separated the shallow and deep end. I would tell him to move over. He would. We had been playing football for about 15 minutes when he threw the football a long way. I went to get it and when I turned around I saw him standing there kind of bouncing up and down. He was really close to the rope. I motioned him to move, but he didn't. I went to him and grabbed him up. He immediately started crying and said, "I thought I was going to drown, Mom." I pulled him into my arms and shed some tears of my own.
Drowning doesn't look like it does on television. It isn't splashing, screaming and flailing around. It is very quiet and scary.
Mario Vittone wrote a wonderful article called Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning. My friend, Beth, originally posted it on Facebook and I wanted to share it with you. If you have children 18 and younger you owe it to yourself and their safety to read this article!
Have a happy summer and safe swimming!
2 comments:
I'm so glad you posted this. Gert was playing with an older friend in the pool one day, and the older friend left her, not realizing Gert wasn't a good swimmer, and she left her where she was over her head. The ONLY thing I was was the panic in her eyes as she started to go under. It is NOT noisy... and I will not be turning my head from the pool this summer.
Oh my goodness! Thanks for the reminder to be constantly vigilant. It's easy to look away for a minute or two, but it doesn't take but that long for life to change forever.
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