It’s the time of year when many of us are filled with excitement at the thought of getting away to the sun.
Family holidays are the stuff memories are made of but with these getaways also brings with huge levels of responsibility and certain dangers – one of them being swimming.
Last summer Vicky and Kris Kelly brought their three children to Spain for a holiday in celebration of grandad’s birthday. They took all the precautions possible such as making sure they were in an apartment fenced off from the pool, along with armbands and floaties. However, their four-year-old, Blossom, took to being adventurous as they tend to and unfortunately began climbing the fence by the pool.
Despite having had swimming lessons, Blossom got into trouble and couldn’t stay afloat. After being spotted, mum and dad performed CPR on their little girl for over 45 minutes before an ambulance arrived. Eventually she was rushed to hospital and was put on life support. Sadly, Blossom passed away in August.
Since the devastating accident, Blossom’s mum and dad are adamant about spreading the message of how common drowning really is and want to highlight the issue as much as possible. Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, dad Kris said,
“My wife and I just knew her life could not be so short, we just knew we had to do something for her memory.”
“It’s a way of keeping her with us.”
Kris also added how astounded he was to learn just how common it is for children to drown.
“We joined a Facebook group for drowning support and it just came up every day that this was happening somewhere in the world.”
This week Kris and Vicky are launching a drowning prevention charity named Blossom’s Legacy. The aim is to teach children how to swim by providing lessons and advice regarding water safety.
Vicky said, “We are passionate about making a difference and improving water safety for all. If we prevent one family from going through the heartache that we have, then losing Blossom hasn’t been in vain.”
