Country star Granger Smith’s wife, Amber Smith, shared a heartbreaking post about the importance of teaching babies to swim after the couple lost their 3-year-old son to drowning in 2019.
In a lengthy post shared on Instagram on Tuesday, Amber wrote that before she and the 43-year-old singer lost their son River in their backyard pool, they were unaware that drowning was “the leading cause of death for children ages 1-4.”
“We had no idea that we were giving them [their kids] a false sense of security in the water by using puddle jumpers,” Smith wrote. “We unknowingly put them in the vertical drowning position each time they wore one for fun in the pool. Puddle jumpers are not coast guard [sic] approved for recreational use in pools. I had also never heard of ISR [Infant Swimming Resource] though it had been around for over 40 years.”
View this post on Instagram
“Take it from a mother who lost her child in her own backyard,” she added. “Please equip your children. You never think it will happen to you. How could it?! You love your kids, you watch your kids, you slather sunscreen on them and cut up their food, you put up a pool gate as soon as you move in, you teach them not to go near water without you, you hold their hand as they cross the street, you cuddle them and pray with them and worry about too much screen time. You worry about the dangers of the world and try to protect them. You never think it will happen to you until it does.”
She included a video of their son Maverick at eight months old going through his swimming lessons.
She also acknowledged some groups out there would claim ISR lessons are “traumatizing” for kids but said there’s “zero evidence, zero studies” to back up that statement.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP
“Real trauma is losing your child in a horrific way and dealing with the remnants of grief and loss in your life,” the singer’s wife concluded. “We do these lessons because they are important. We share for River and for other families walking the same road. And we share for parents and grandparents who don’t know this info.”
In 2021, Amber and Granger welcomed Maverick into the world. The couple also shares two other children together, London and Lincoln.
Related: ‘Surrendered To God’: Country Singer Granger Smith Says Faith ‘Saved My Life’ After Losing His Child