Sounding the alarm: Family pushes for water safety as deputies find body of missing 7-year-old boy

, Fla. — There is a renewed push for more water safety measures after a 7-year-old boy, Emerson Felix, was found dead on Tuesday in an Orange County retention pond.

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One family has fought for change after losing their grandson Wesley Seth.

The two-year-old drowned in a home daycare swimming pool in Chuluota last May.

Memories of the gut-wrenching phone call were triggered again when the family heard about Felix.

Read: ‘We are devastated’: Deputies find body of missing 7-year-old Orlando boy

“Frustration because I see this is something that is preventable,” said Eric Brown, the 2-year-old’s grandfather.

Here in Florida, there are bodies of water everywhere, especially in residential neighborhoods. Maybe you don’t have a pool, but your neighbor does, and chances are there’s at least one retention pond nearby.

So, adding a small alarm like this will likely save a child’s life.

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Wesley’s grandmother turned her grief into action and now raises money for these door alarms, which will be distributed through Oviedo Fire Rescue and, soon, Seminole County Fire.

Especially in Florida, where in a recent three-year period, the state ranked highest in the U.S. for unintentional drowning among children under nine years old.

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“My grandson was the most beautiful part of my life, and losing him was just truly hard to get up every day,” Libby Baity said.

Each year, according to the CDC, there are enough children under the age of five lost to drowning to fill three or four preschool classrooms,

which is about 60 children.

If you are interested in getting alarms for your home, please fill out this interest form and the City of Oviedo will let you know when you can pick them up.

We want to thank WFTV Channel 9 for coming out today and talking about the importance of door and window alarms in homes with kids. We are still giving out alarms thanks to the Wesley Seth Foundation. You can submit an interest form here: https://t.co/JGJk5drGWP pic.twitter.com/MVFDO17O7S
— Oviedo Fire Department (@OviedoFire) October 16, 2024