Casey McGovern knows the unthinkable can happen in seconds.<\/p>\n
Seventeen years ago, she lost her 19-month-old daughter, Edna Mae, lovingly called “Em,” in her family’s backyard pool. Nearly two decades later, as Florida is on track for another deadly year of childhood drownings, she’s sharing her story in hopes of preventing another family from experiencing the same heartbreak.<\/p>\n
“Having a pool in your backyard when you have toddlers is like having that loaded gun sitting on your coffee table,” McGovern said. “You would never do that unprotected or unsecured.”<\/p>\n
Just ahead of World Drowning Prevention Day on July 25, McGovern is urging parents to take water safety seriously, even if they don’t think tragedy could ever happen to them.<\/p>\n
In August 2009, McGovern’s life changed forever. She had been unloading groceries and planning out the week for her family of five when everything changed in an instant.<\/p>\n
“29 minutes from grocery shopping, planning my week out for a family of five, to our worst nightmare happening,” she said.<\/p>\n
During those few moments, she and her husband lost sight of Em.<\/p>\n
“I caught her out of the corner of my eye, floating in our pool because it wasn’t on my radar,” McGovern recalled. “And I ran around, jumped in the pool, and just held her and screamed.”<\/p>\n
Today, McGovern can quickly list the things she wishes she had known then: check the pool first, start swim lessons early and don’t rely on floaties, which can create a false sense of security.<\/p>\n
“She was a gift, and she was cut short,” she said. “That’s why I’m screaming: learn from us. We didn’t have door chimes. We used floaties. Learn from us so it doesn’t have to happen to you.”<\/p>\n
Despite repeated warnings from doctors, law enforcement and water safety advocates, childhood drownings continue to claim young lives across Florida.<\/p>\n
Last year, 120 children died from drowning in Florida. This year, the state has already recorded 75 child drowning deaths.<\/p>\n
“Those are numbers that we’re all focused on for statistics,” McGovern said. “Those are babies. Those are people that are supposed to be here, and those are parents that are potentially going to be ripped apart.”<\/p>\n
Following her daughter’s death, McGovern founded the Every Child A Swimmer program, which offers three months of free swim lessons to eligible children. Florida has also expanded its swim lesson voucher program<\/a> this year to include children up to seven years old.<\/p>\n Still, she cautions parents against viewing swim lessons as a one-time milestone.<\/p>\n “I think that so many parents don’t understand that six to eight lessons is just a start,” she said. “And also, it’s not like riding a bike at first.”<\/p>\n While McGovern doesn’t know exactly what’s driving the increase in child drownings, she knows what can help prevent them.<\/p>\n “I think that the moment they become mobile, the moment they’re starting to crawl, get them in swim lessons,” she said. “Make that your first sport.”<\/p>\n She added, “Don’t invest in T-ball and ballet and football. Invest in your child.”<\/p>\n Looking back, McGovern says she would have done whatever it took to keep her daughter safe.<\/p>\n “I would have spent my last dollars if I would have known,” she said. “I just didn’t know. I thought I had time.”<\/p>\n McGovern describes Em as sweet, spirited and fiercely independent. She would have been 18 years old today.<\/p>\n