Adventure Safety Joining a Petition – no child should drown because of not knowing how to swim

We’ve taken part in this. What about you?

There’s a new petition taking off on Change.org, and we thought you might be interested in signing it. Read on for more details: 

My daughter Courtney drowned last year. She was in a tinny with her boyfriend and another friend. They were going out to a small island on Lake Macquarie — then bad weather caused the boat to capsize. 

When her boyfriend went to swim for help, she couldn’t let him go alone. But Courtney wasn’t a strong swimmer, and the waves pulled her under. Her body was found ten days later. 

She was fourteen — bright, funny, and a huge big smile that still stays with me everywhere I go. I’m still tormented by endless questions. What more could I have done to protect my beautiful girl? What was going through her mind in the water? And what if she’d been able to stay afloat just a little longer? 

It’s agony. And it terrifies me to think that this summer, thousands of kids who aren’t strong swimmers could be out on that lake again. Just like Courtney. 

Image courtesy ofsuphakit73 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net 

That’s why I’ve signed the Royal Lifesaving Society’s petition to make sure every child learns to swim. I’ll never be able to get my baby back — but it could save someone else’s child. 

Will you help by adding your name? 

Schools and government need to do something now, to make sure these senseless tragedies don’t keep occurring. This summer, so many lives could be at risk. The Lifesaving Society says the water safety skills of kids and teenagers are dropping, and one in five kids may not be able to swim at all. 

I never thought, even in my worst nightmares, that drowning could happen to our family. I found out in the worst way possible that that’s not true. 

This is so important. Please sign the petition, and help make sure that no child misses out on learning to swim. 

Thank you, 

Cathy Simon 

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