June 3, 2009

Editorial

This is a friendly but very, very serious reminder.

The staff at South Boston Online were amazed when we received a children’s book called “Josh, the Baby Otter” last week.  The news release that came along with the book made this statement:  “According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Number One cause of death for one- to four-year-olds is drowning.”

(EDITOR’S NOTE:  The Center, abbreviated “CDCP”, is the world-renowned federal health agency in Atlanta that investigates epidemics.)

Now, we all know that unattended young children will go straight for the water.  Water attracts kids – it’s what’s called an “attractive nuisance”.  Everyone knows that tragedies occur if children play in water by themselves, if they aren’t watched every minute.

But what amazed us most here at South Boston Online was hearing that drowning is the Number One cause of death for babies and toddlers.  Yes, Number One.

And now (as Paul Harvey used to say), the rest of the story.  One year ago, a toddler named Joshua Collingsworth slipped away from a Sunday afternoon family gathering.  The Collingsworths live in Nebraska; they own a backyard pool that had just been opened that morning for their guests. 

Joshua was found face down in the pool.  Apparently, he approached the pool to fill his toy water pistol and toppled in.  Even though he could not have been in the pool for more than a few minutes, he was unconscious and not breathing.  Qualified family members administered CPR to Joshua.  An ambulance rushed him to the hospital.  He was then med-flighted to Children’s Hospital in Omaha.  But it was too late.  Three days later, Joshua, still unresponsive, was taken off life support.

In the midst of this unspeakable tragedy, the Collingsworth family bravely started asking themselves some tough, difficult questions.  “What did we miss?”  “What should we have known?”  Joshua’s father, Blake Collingsworth, concluded that one key is presenting a “Water Awareness Message” to young children.  He says, “The problem is we think we will always be with them when they are around water.  It’s time we started talking to children about the dangers of water.  Yes, water is fun, but ONLY WHEN WE ARE ALL TOGETHER.”

For this reason, Mr. Collingsworth wrote the book mentioned above – “Josh, the Baby Otter” – a story that promotes water safety for very young children and the parents of these little ones.  Otters are aquatic animals, of course, but even young otters need to be trained before they can enter the water by themselves.  There’s a good lesson there. 

In addition, the Collingsworth family rose above their tragedy to create a foundation named for Joshua.  So far, the Joshua Collingsworth Memorial Foundation has distributed “Josh, the Baby Otter” to every elementary school in the state of Nebraska, with a plea for teachers to read it to their students before the summer vacation begins.  The Collingsworth family wants to get the message out to everyone.  For information on how you can help spread the message, log onto www.joshuamemorial.org or www.joshthebabyotter.org.  The mailing address for the Joshua Collingsworth Memorial Foundation is P.O. Box 21712, Lincoln, NE  68542.  Blake and Kathy Collingsworth are willing to speak with anyone to help convey their message.  Get in touch with them.  Anyone who wants to look at our copy of “Josh, the Baby Otter”, is welcome to stop in at the Online office.      

For several years now, South Boston Online has used one of its June editorials to remind our readers of the hazards of summertime.  For all of us, it’s a time for the outdoors, for the beaches and shores, and pools of all sizes and shapes.  There will be hazards from barbecuing (never on your back deck, please!), sun exposure, sports injuries, and so on.

But we can’t talk about the dangers of water any better than the Collingsworth family.  Learn from their tragic experience to better protect your own little ones.  Get a copy of “Josh, the Baby Otter; share it with your relatives and friends.

And share our amazement over the CDCP statistic that drowning is the Number One cause of death among one- to four-year-olds. 

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