The mother of a three-year-old boy who drowned on holiday has urged parents of young children to always hold their hand near the water.
Amanda Cambridge, whose three year old son Avery drowned in a tragic swimming pool accident says that teaching water safety to young children has the potential to be lifesaving and life changing.
She told the Irish Mirror that she became an advocate for early learning water safety after enduring her own personal tragedy.
She said: “Our world was turned upside down on the 12th of August 2019, on a family holiday in Spain. I went there with three beautiful children and I came back with two.
"Our blonde, blue eyed boy, Avery, lost his life in a swimming pool accident. He walked out of our house and down to the pool and drowned. He was 3 years old.
"Avery’s death was so unexpected he had been so alive and precious and bubbly and then he was gone. In the blink of an eye your whole world changes.
"Coming home, his toys were still there and his clothes were still hanging up, it was devastating."
There are as many as ten drownings a month in Ireland according to figures from Water Safety Ireland (WSI) who are advocating to make water safety "part of everyday conversation with children, friends and family".
Amanda is working with WSI who have designed a water safety programme that will be delivered at 4,000 Early Learning and Care Centres nationwide.
The ‘Hold Hands’ programme has been designed to highlight potential water safety dangers at home, on farms, on the beach, at rivers, lakes and on holiday.
Amanda explained the programme has been built around one very simple insight - that a young child should always hold an adult’s hand near water.
She said: “Water takes no prisoners, it doesn’t pick and choose. Drownings don’t just happen at the beach, it happens in pools in bathtubs and on the farm. It only takes 30 seconds for a child to drown.
"Young children are vulnerable, they’re curious and they love water but they don’t know the dangers of it.
"We’re trying to nurture that love of water but we also want children to understand the dangers that are associated with water and we want to teach them how to be safe.
"That’s why I’m an advocate for early learning water safety in pre-schools, creches and all Early Learning Centres."
Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys who launched the initiative along with fellow minister Roderic O'Gorman said she hopes the programme will change the behaviour of children around water.
She said: “It is never too early to start learning how to be safe around water”,
“It complements Water Safety Ireland’s education resources for primary schools and is part of a wider effort to foster a healthy respect for water safety as children grow.
This ‘whole of life’ approach to water safety has the potential to change the attitudes and behaviours of children around water and save so many lives in the process.”
The Water Safety Ireland resources can be viewed at: https://watersafety.ie/hold-hands
