Parents overcome tragedy to teach others how to avoid child drownings

THE WOODLANDS, TX – Mark and Christi Brown were forced to live out every parent's worst nightmare when their three-year-old son Judah Levi, the youngest of their seven children, drowned in an apartment complex swimming pool at a family outing in 2016.

Though paramedics on the scene were able to resuscitate him, the damage to Judah’s body and brain had been too severe from the submersion and lack of oxygen, and after nearly three days in the pediatric intensive care unit, Judah was removed from life support and pronounced dead.

“When I was sitting in the PICU, helplessly watching my son die, I learned that drowning is the number one cause of accidental death in children ages 1 through 4,” said Christi. “We hear all about car seat safety from the time we learn we are pregnant. But drowning kills more children under age 5 than car accidents do.”

Judah’s preschool teacher asked the bereaved parents if she could do a fundraiser for the family to assist with medical bills. “What started out as a small fundraiser ended up blossoming into the Judah Brown Project,” said Christi. “His teacher took the helm and built a foundation for our little boy, when we just didn’t have the strength to do it ourselves.”

Christy and Mark began developing our water safety pamphlets informing parents and caregivers of all of the layers of protection that a child needs to stay safer around the water. They targeted pediatricians, teachers, caregivers, and parents to have and give the information they needed to know how quickly and easily drowning can happen.

Today, these pamphlets are now in more than 350 pediatric locations in the area and around the country, and are being passed out to parents daily. The foundation has ambassadors in multiple states to help us spread the message with pediatric caregivers and families. Additionally, the foundation:

• raises funds and provides survival swim lessons for children whose parents cannot afford them;
• goes into schools, libraries, people’s homes, doctor’s offices, and elsewhere to provide training to children and also to caregivers and professionals;
• attends children’s festivals, expos, and events;
• hands out water watcher tags and talks to parents about the need for appropriate supervision;
• provides low- to no-cost CPR classes to anyone 8 years old or older; and
• honors nearly 200 children who have passed away from drowning by sending care packages to their families every year on their birthdays.

Additionally, the foundation is involved in advocacy and recently got the Judah Brown Drowning Prevention Act passed in the state of Texas. This law prevents homeowner’s associations from being able to make any rules against homeowners putting up safety fences around their pools, to keep children more safe around water.

Unlike what is presented in medical dramas on television, it only takes 30 seconds for a child to drown, and drowning is very often completely silent. There are no splashes or other noises to indicate that it is happening; it happens almost entirely underneath the water line. Additionally, young children can’t grasp the concept that their ‘arm floaties’ and other buoyant devices are what keeps them from drowning. Judah’s own floatation devices had been removed when he decided on his own to get back into the pool, resulting in the tragedy.

According to the foundation’s pamphlets, while no child is ‘drown-proof,’ there are ways to significantly reduce the risk, including:

• effective supervision by getting in the pool with the child, keep constant eyes on them, and keep them within arm’s reach
• segmented supervision by designating someone who will constantly monitor the child and switch them out every 15 minutes
• not getting distracted by phones or other people
• installing a 4-sided, self-locking pool fence and ensure children can’t climb over it
• arming all windows and doors with alarms and keeping them locked
• ensuring the pool has a functioning early warning alarm system
• teaching survival swimming lessons in case they ever find themselves in water without help

Though Judah’s legacy is one of saving the lives of others, his parents and siblings still live each day, even years later, with the agony of living through the hell of losing a loved one.

“There’s a word for a child who has lost a parent, there’s a word for a spouse who’s lost their partner, but there’s no word for a parent who’s had to bury their own child,” said Mark. “I have to tell you, time doesn’t heal the wound and it doesn’t lessen the grief. I ask people not to tell me that. Instead, what keeps the grief from overwhelming us is knowing that we exist to save little lives by spreading Judah’s story and by holding up his legacy in the hearts of children and their parents, as far as we can possibly reach.”

To learn about the foundation and how to protect your children in swimming environments, visit www.JudahBrownProject.org.