This story is tragic! It is going to wake you up. This story should get you thinking about the importance of learning to float and swim. This recently happened in a neighborhood in East Brunswick, New Jersey. Since none of them knew how to swim and/or float, three family members drown together at nearly the same time.
Family Members Drown Together – The Sad Story
This story happened on Sunday, June 28, 2020. Police were called out to a neighborhood home that had a backyard pool by neighbors that heard a woman frantically screaming and yelling. When the police got there, they found an 8-year old daughter, her 33-year old mother, Nisha Patel, and the 62- year old grandfather-in-law, Bharat Patel, were all dead in the swimming pool.
The police suspected that the three were dead due to electrocution. After an electrician examined the situation and after a coroner’s report classified the cause of the three deaths as drowning, the police revised their report to show the cause of deaths were due to drowning. Apparently, according to the mother who had found the three victims, none of them knew how to float and/ or swim.
The police suspect that the daughter may have accidentally fallen into the swimming pool and the mother and grandfather may have jumped into the pool in an effort to save the child. This is such a sad story… it should have a different kind of ending.
Watch this short video on the accident:
The family was from India and had been in the United States for only a few weeks. None of them had ever been taught to swim. Swim lessons were on their list of “things to do”, but it was not a high priority. The child had been enrolled at school, and was about to start 1st grade.
Lesson Learned: Give Swim Lessons a High Priority
You don’t get a second chance. When the time comes and you need to swim, hopefully you have learned to swim and float. If you or a family member has not learned at least the basics of swimming/floating, give Bonnie at Life Saver Survivor Swim School a telephone call and get enrolled in her next available class. Or, if you prefer, email her.