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Boating without personal flotation About 25 years ago, my husband, our 3-year-old daughter and I were fishing on a local pond. My daughter decided she wanted to be nearer to her daddy. She started toward him and then just tumbled out of the boat. We dropped our fishing rods in the lake. My husband dove in, grabbed Melody by her butt, and put her back into the boat. We headed back to the bank. Melody was upset with us because she could not get back into the lake. That same evening we shopped until we found a life jacket small enough to fit her. Afterwards we made sure she wore her life jacket any time she was near the water. We learned from that experience not to take young children out in a boat unless they wear life jackets. Melody learned the only way she could get out of the jacket was to learn to swim. She still loves the water, and I still feel guilty that I did not know better than to have her in the boat without a jacket. My husband went back to the area where we were fishing and found both of his rods. Mary L. Ford |
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