A near-drowning in Sunrise brought police out to a backyard pool Wednesday afternoon.
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Officers say the child was pulled from the water at the home along NW 24th Place near 68th Avenue before 1 p.m. after reports that a 2-year-old boy jumped into the water.
Investigators say the child was conscious and breathing, and was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure.
This type of scare is what fuels Johnathan St. Clair to take his Wave Maker Tour around the country, visiting 30 Major League Baseball parks in 30 days. St. Clair attended Wednesday’s Miami Marlins game at loanDepot Park, wearing his signature life jacket as a conversation starter.
“If a child learns to swim, they’re 88% less likely to drown,” St. Clair said. “That’s a crazy statistic. If I can get that message across to every parent around, I think we would see a significant number of drownings decrease.”
St. Clair lost his son Jasper to drowning in 2014. The toddler was in the care of a babysitter and wandered out a back door and into the pool, where he drowned.
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“Trying to raise awareness of how easily that same scenario can happen to someone else even though they think it can’t happen to them,” St. Clair urged.
The latest statistics from the Florida Department of Children and Families show 82 children have died by drowning in the state so far this year. More than half of them were 3 years old or younger.
St. Clair is desperate to keep that number from climbing.
“I’m hoping that when they go home at the end of the game, that they’re thinking about the crazy guy at the ballpark with the life jacket on and all the information I tried to cram in in a two-minute conversation with them,” St. Clair said. “A lot of the time, parents are receptive and don’t know the statistics. Drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1-4 in America.”
Drowning prevention advocates urge parents to supervise children closely near water. Add barriers to pools or natural waterways like fences or locks, and alarms on doors. Teach children to swim at a young age, and for parents and caregivers, learn CPR.
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