Drownings preventable
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Updated: July 22, 2009 11:03 AM
People will continue to drown while enjoying their days at Harrison Lake and in the lagoon.
It's going to keep happening. There's nothing anyone can do or say to stop it. And that's a sad fact, considering that drowning is almost completely preventable.
How? By learning how to swim properly. By knowing your capabilities. By swimming with others and not pushing yourself past your limitations.
That means in all water. In lakes. In rivers. In swimming pools. And yes, even in lagoons. Just because it's man made doesn't make it any more safe. It certainly doesn't make it impervious to accidental deaths.
And in the same vein, you could say that the lagoon does not up and swallow these swimmers whole. The deaths have all been preventable, that's to be sure. But prevented by whom?
Another young man nearly lost his life on Monday afternoon, and the nearness of tragedy scraped open wounds that have not yet healed, from the death of Devin McClelland-Begon.
At the scene on Monday, the reality seemed to hit home with those who watched rescuers revive the young man at the shoreline.
He sputtered. He choked. He breathed on his own. He was taken out on a stretcher, complaining of nausea. And while that seems like a good ending to a story, it doesn't mean he's out of the woods yet. Near drowning can have a physical effect on the body and brain that last a lifetime.
And these are the reasons we all need to be safer around the water. We all need to exercise a little more caution. A little more due diligence. It is an unfortunate thing when we get hurt enjoying the more dangerous things in life. But it should never, ever, come as a surprise when we get hurt, or even killed, enjoying those pleasures.
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