Mom Champions ISR Swim Lessons After Devastating Death of Her Toddler Son
Every year, Keri Morrison celebrates her son Jake's birthday with sparklers, cake, and a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" sung by family and friends. The party doesn't take place at an arcade or barbecue; it's observed at Jake's grave site. In 2013, two months shy of his third birthday, Jake Roarke Morrison drowned while visiting family: He wandered outside and fell into Florida's Intracoastal Waterway. "My brother-in-law got on his jet ski and rode up and down, but by the time he found Jake, it was too late," says Keri, 39.
I'm pretty confident that if Jake had done ISR, he'd still be here.
"If I hadn't had my daughter, Julia, who was 3 months old at the time, I might not be here," Keri admits. "When you lose a child, it feels like all you can do is stay in bed and live whatever life you have left in darkness. But she needed me, and I knew I had to protect her." Keri enrolled Julia in Infant Swimming Resource's Self- Rescue program. Commonly called ISR, the swim lessons teach children as young as 6 months how to survive in the water. "According to ISR, more than 85 percent of drownings occur when children are fully clothed-so kids don't graduate until they can save themselves while dressed. I'm pretty confident that if Jake had done ISR, he'd still be here."
One day Keri was telling Julia's ISR instructor that she wished every child could take the course, so the woman suggested Keri raise money for scholarships, since the lessons cost about $600 and many families can't afford them. A few months later, Keri created the Live Like Jake Foundation to cover the cost of ISR swim lessons, defray medical and funeral bills of childhood drowning victims, and educate families about water safety. So far Live Like Jake has raised more than $220,000, awarded nearly 300 scholarships, and helped 30 families with medical and funeral costs.
Kari Safran of West Palm Beach, FL, enrolled the youngest of her five children in an ISR course-using a Live Like Jake Foundation scholarship- when he was 1, soon after her family moved to a home with a pool. Within weeks of finishing the program, and with Kari just steps ahead of him, her pajama-clad son noiselessly toddled into the water. "When I turned around, he was already out of arm's reach," she says. "But he had gotten into his float position and was kicking his feet- I don't think any of my other children would've known how to do that at that age. I was there to pull him right out that time, but if I hadn't been, thanks to Keri, he had the skills to help himself. Keri is saving lives and doing what she can so no one else has to endure what she has. I appreciate that more than words can ever say."
What You Can Do
1. Donate at livelikejake.org to help fund scholarships for kids nationwide.
2. Support Colin's Hope (colinshope.org), which distributes bilingual water safety information to families, schools, and water parks. Take its water safety quiz and share a link to it on social media.
3. Enroll your child in survival swim lessons. Visit infantswim.com to find a local ISR instructor, and be sure to read ISR's life-saving water safety tips and those at redcross.org.
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