Central Arkansas woman’s nonprofit teaches importance of water safety, created in honor of husband who drowned

CONWAY, Ark.- A central Arkansas woman created a memorial foundation to honor her husband who drowned, hoping to make sure his legacy is never forgotten.

Melanie Brindley said the mission of the Ken Brindley Memorial Foundation is to advocate for water safety education and provide scholarships for swim lessons & general education, as well as swim safety equipment.

Melanie said she created the foundation after losing her husband, Ken Brindley, 21 years ago when he ran into the ocean at Grayton Beach in Florida under a red flag warning to save a drowning child. The child was saved, but the rip current took Ken’s life.

“I think that just knowing how much he wanted to be a resource of help to other people helped me,” Melanie Brindley said.

After the loss, Melanie Brindley said she began learning more about water safety, even traveling to other states to become more self-aware and help her understand how this could have happened to her husband.

Melanie said she found a community of families who experienced losing a family member to drowning, all of them banding together around the U.S. to help prevent drowning in their communities and states.

The United States Coast Guard reports that Arkansas is ranked sixth in the nation for drownings. In addition, the World Health Organization estimates that 236,000 people drown each year worldwide, making it the third leading cause of unintentional injury death.

“It is the leading cause of death of children aged one through four, but you also hit a group of young men, and the men are from 18 up to their 40s,” Brindley said.

She said Ken Brindley fit that statistic at age 36.

During the summer, especially on holidays, many people enjoy the Natural State as it provides many bodies of water for people to stay cool and have fun, such as hot tubs, pools, ponds, or lakes. Melanie says you can drown in any of those, and small children can also drown in a bathtub if left unattended.

She noted that many people even gather on the lakes to enjoy fireworks show displays.

“Make sure you’re on a boat with someone that is legal to drive, who doesn’t drink and boat, who knows the rules of driving waterways, and that you have a Coast Guard-approved life jacket because you never know when you’ll need it,” Brindley said.

Brindley stressed that drowning could impact anyone.

“Drowning is preventable,” Brindley said. “Drowning doesn’t discriminate between socioeconomic, and it doesn’t discriminate between any one of us.”

The CDC reports that swimming lessons can reduce the risk of drowning, but over half of U.S. adults have never taken swimming lessons.

“I think it’s very important that people hear about water safety from the moment a child is born into their family because that is the single leading cause of death, unintentional, accidental injury of a child,” Brindley said.

Melanie began thinking of ways to be an outreach for community engagement and came up with a few ideas that will be carried out yearly.

“Mainly, we are purchasing lifejackets at a reduced cost for manufacturers,” Brindley said.

She partnered with the city of Conway at Beaverfork Lake and created an annual event called Water Safety Saturday.

“We had people teaching CPR, we had the game and fish out doing different activities, a swim school came out to teach, a fence company and pool company teaching about pool protection,” Brindley said.

Brindley said there are a few safety precautions to follow when swimming with children, such as staying within an arm’s length of the child.

She also noted that if a child goes missing that you should always check the water first, stressing this is why having “multiple barriers of protection” is so important. She said barriers are things like fences, gates and locked doors.

“Have water watchers. We want you to designate someone to keep your eyes on the children at all times and take shifts,” Brindley said.

Melanie Brindley also educates people on open water safety, such as lakes and beaches.

Melanie Brindley hopes to expand her nonprofit daily to provide more opportunities for everyone, but she knows her work is already impacting many lives.

“I know that he would be proud that we’re doing what we can,” Brindley said.

More information about the Ken Brindley Memorial Foundation can be found at SwimSafety.org .

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