IF YOU HAVE A SWIMMING POOL OR KNOW SOMEONE THAT DOES, PLEASE READ THIS

 

The day started out as any other day.  The girls were out of school, it was Labor Day.
 Brady was up bright and early, ready to start his day.  I work at home and Brady and
I had a routine, a schedule.  Every day it was the same.  When he woke up in the
morning we came downstairs, changed his diaper, got him some breakfast, and then he
would watch Blue's Clue's while I started to work.  Once Blue's Clue's was over he was
charged up for the day.

Three days a week Brady went to pre-school from 9-11:30.  After he ate breakfast
on those days we would get dressed for school; he loved going.  I would drop him off at
9 and then go to the gym,  After working out I would come home, get a little work
done, then go back to pick him up.  We came home and ate lunch together after school.
 After he ate it was nap time.  All I had to say was "its time for night night baby"
and he would start up the stairs to his room.  He was pretty good about going to bed
most of the time.  After his nap he would get out of his crib and come to the top of
the stairs and yell for me and say "mama I went night night".  Then down he would
come into my office.  Every day was the same for us until September 6, 2004.

Since the girls were out of school, Brady ate lunch with them that day.  I can still
hear him laughing one of those real hard belly laughs that baby's do.  I went to see
what was so funny.  He was throwing his food at his sisters and apparently thought
that was very funny.  The girls asked if they could go swimming in our pool after lunch.
 I told them that they needed to wait for Brady to lay down for his nap first.  Brady
loved the pool.  They started getting their bathing suits on while I put Brady down for
his nap.  An hour or so passed and I went to check on him.  He was sound asleep.  I
came back downstairs to get some more work done.  The girls had come in from the
pool and were downstairs watching TV.  About 30 minutes passed and I went to check
on Brady again.  He wasn't in the crib.  I was calling him, thinking he was into
something in my room which he occasionally would do.  I heard nothing.  I came back
down the hall and as I came into the den I noticed the back door was open.  I got a
really bad feeling and I ran out the door and up to the pool.  Brady was in it.  I
screamed and jumped in.  I started praying like never before as I picked him up, got
out of the pool, and ran inside.  My other children heard me scream and came running
up the stairs.  They saw Brady as I lay him on the floor.  They started crying and
screaming his name.  I yelled at them to go back downstairs as I dialed 911.  I didn't
want them to see what was happening.  The 911 operator was telling me how to do CPR
and I was doing it for what seemed like hours.  A few minutes passed and the police
and ambulance arrived.  The policeman started doing CPR while I begged for him to save my baby.  The EMT picked Brady up,  ran down the stairs and out the door, I
followed.  At the hospital, in shock I thought for sure they would help him and
everything was going to be ok.

The doctor came in and told me that they were not able to save him.  I started to cry
and scream, begging God not to take him.  I kept thinking that this was a terrible
nightmare and I was going to wake up because this can't be happening.  All I wanted
was to hold my baby; I thought if I held him, he would feel me & hear me and start to
breathe.  My brothers came in with me.  Dale and Tammy from our church came and
prayed while I held my sweet baby son.  I rocked him and sang to him and cried telling
him how sorry I was and how much I loved him.  All the while I kept thinking, hoping,
and praying that he would take a big breath and start to cry, but he didn't.

IF YOU HAVE A POOL, I HOPE AND PRAY THAT YOU WILL PUT A FENCE AROUND IT WITH A LOCKED GATE.  MY HUSBAND AND I WERE IN THE PROCESS OF RE-DOING OUR DECK WHEN THIS HAPPENED.  DON'T WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW BECAUSE TOMORROW MAY NEVER COME. DO IT NOW, WHILE YOU STILL HAVE THE CHANCE TO SAVE YOUR CHILD, YOUR GRANDCHILD, YOUR NIECE, YOUR NEPHEW, OR YOUR FRIEND.  I DON'T WANT ANYONE TO KNOW THE HEART WRENCHING PAIN I SUFFER WITH EVERY DAY.

IF YOU THINK THIS TYPE OF THING ONLY HAPPENS TO "OTHER PEOPLE", PLEASE DO NOT BE FOOLED;  THIS COULD HAPPEN TO YOU SO PLEASE DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN TO PREVENT IT.

PLEASE PASS THIS WEBSITE ON TO ALL YOUR FAMILY, FRIENDS, CO-WORKERS, AND EVERYONE IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK.  IF THIS WEBSITE HELPS TO SAVE JUST ONE CHILD'S LIFE,  IT HAS DONE ITS JOB AND MY SON'S HEART WILL CONTINUE TO LIVE ON.