Free swim lesson vouchers now available to low income families with children under 4
FORT LAUDERDALE — A new Florida law went into effect Monday, July 1st, that provides swim lesson vouchers to low-income families with children under the age of four.
Florida has the highest rate of unintentional drowning death for children one to four years old and the numbers are going up.
It's not even the middle of summer yet and we've already seen dozens of drownings in the state.
Just last week, a five-year-old lost his life in a Southwest Miami-Dade pool. Earlier this month, a one-year-old in Coral Springs was rushed to the hospital in critical condition and an eight-year-old died in Fort Lauderdale. Meanwhile, a toddler is still fighting for her life in a Hollywood hospital after falling in a pool in April.
Back in 2014, a toddler fell in the pool in Coral Springs while his mother, Jenna Edwards, was in the hospital delivering her second child. The boy suffered a severe brain injury.
"Maybe four police officers, special victims unit came in with my gynecologist. When four police officers walk in with your doctor you know it's never good news," said Jenna.
James, her oldest, not even two years old, was home with family members when he somehow slipped out of the door and ended up in the pool.
"We did have a pool gate we had all the safety measures we thought installed but he still managed to get into our pool," said Jenna.
"He did not have a heartbeat that they could trace. He was cold to the touch, like almost freezing and I remember I kept saying don't you want to put a blanket on him he's really cold he's really cold," said Jenna.
James lived but suffered a hypoxic brain injury, his brain cells dying from a lack of oxygen. He was in the hospital for two months. Ten years later, this family has grown from two children to four.
James is in a wheelchair but usually full of smiles.
For the last ten years, James has gone through all sorts of therapy; physical and speech, and he uses a tablet to communicate with his eyes. He even gets in a bit of baseball.
Jenna says she remembers in the months before James fell in the pool seeing drownings on the news.
"Always thinking that doesn't happen to us. That happens to other people, that doesn't happen to people like us. And it does," said Jenna.
Jenna says she now knows much differently.
"It can happen at any time, it can happen at any place. The most important thing is layers of protection," said Jenna.
Those layers of protection include barriers and alarms, supervision, life jackets, emergency preparation, and water competency; teaching children how to swim.
"James lived in his puddle jumper. I have such cute videos of him bobbing around in the water and me saying what are you doing James and him saying 'I'm swimming, I'm swimming.' And in reality, all that did was give him confidence that he knew how to swim so that when he saw an open body of water, he just jumped right in," said Jenna.
As this family's normal may look a bit different, you can feel the love and Jenna says James teaches them important lessons every day.
"Do I wish his life was different? Absolutely. I don't wish this on anybody. This is our life. Being sad or dwelling on it, it's not going to change anything. The only thing we can do is make the most of what we have. I do believe we have so much. We really are very lucky people. While life has been different, it is still beautiful," said Jenna.
Jenna's three other children learned to swim by the age of three.
She says it is so important to get kids in lessons as soon as possible.
To learn more about the new voucher program here in Florida and how to apply head to www.watersmartfl.com. Kids can also learn to swim for free in Miami Gardens and Opa-locka.
