“When is the best time to start swimming lessons?” It is the most common question we get at Hampton Swim School from our prospective parents with young children. Our answer? “As soon as your child is born.” While the number of drownings is still going up in our country, the one thing you can do as a parent is provide that barrier against it. We are sorry to say this, but your backyard pool is not the place to learn.

Last year 248 people fatally drowned and 504 were involved in non-fatal drowning incidents. Although the highest number of deaths occurred in an older age group, the number of near deaths among children should not be underestimated. Children under five have the highest rate of non-fatal drowning of any group and are more likely to drown in swimming pools and bathtubs than adults. About 85% of non-fatal drownings in swimming pools are children. While children are the most likely group to drown because of their age and vulnerability, they are also the most likely group to be rescued because they are rarely swimming alone. For every Australian child under five who fatally drowns, about eight children survive but with brain injury, paralysis, and other serious and lifelong problems (Australian research published in medical journal BMJ Open).

With most (almost) drownings taking place in swimming pools, it makes you wonder why some parents still believe that their backyard pool gives them a reason to delay the commencement of their child(ren)’s swimming education. Yes, it can be helpful in making your child feel comforable in the water, with you in there with them. But you are not there all the time. When these children are left unsupervised, even for a second, they are often unable to rescue themselves when needed. The sooner a child learns water safety, swimming, and lifesaving skills, the better. This is where aquatic education comes in. Swimming lessons offer you and your child so much more than ‘just’ learn to swim. Safety aside, swimming is a great form of exercise and it is fun. It promotes time with the family and opens the door to many water sports such as water polo, sailing and nippers. Without tragic stories.

How young is young?

Whilst we know infants are too young to learn formal and complex skills such as strokes, experience in swim programs bears witness to infants and toddlers being able to swim from an early age. Babies in water will instinctively close their mouths and make motions to propel themselves through the water. Swim lessons afford a further means for babies to learn to relax in water and develop confidence in the water, and they provide a wonderful opportunity for bonding between baby and parent. It is the only activity where babies are completely independent, especially before they can walk or crawl unaided. The water supports their weight, and they are free to move their legs and arms.

For an infant aged 0 to 18 months, there is a natural association between immersion in water and the fluid environment of the womb. From the standpoint of an instructor, this natural affinity of the child with the water is seen to decrease between birth and 14 months, and to decrease further between 18-24 months as toddlers enter the terrible two’s phase when it can become increasingly difficult to teach water awareness and breath control. A creative and interactive swim program can help overcome the obstacles inherent in this developmental swimming stage.

Furthermore, there are some encouraging results from world-leading research led by Griffith University, showing that children who swim demonstrate more advanced cognitive and physical abilities, reaching milestones earlier than other children. They will be ready for school before you are ready to let them go!

So, there it is. We and many swim schools out there argue that the younger the child starts swim lessons the better. However, the decision ultimately comes down to personal circumstances and, as a parent, knowing when you and your child are actually ready.

The most important thing to consider when commencing swim lessons for your infant is to locate a swim school that has gentle, age- and developmentally-appropriate baby and swim programs where skills are gradually introduced as your child is ready. Through play and perseverance in a trusting and secure learning environment, your child will develop an appreciation and love of the water that will follow them through life.

Hampton Swim School would love to welcome you, your baby, your child, your family to one of our programs.
You can find all information on our website. Or feel free to ask our friendly enrolment team any questions you may have: 07 33992004.

The post When To Start Swimming Lessons? appeared first on Hampton Swim School.

Parents role in baby and Toddler swimming

Parents seeking ways to improve their young child’s confidence, independence and relaxation in water need look no further than their role as the caregiver ahead of and during a baby swimming lesson or new born swimming lesson.

The caregiver plays an invaluable role in assisting and enhancing the child’s aquatic development. Influences on a baby’s swimming ability are exerted well before a baby enters a swimming pool, and in fact these influences begin at birth with the bathing process.

Parents need to be aware of the verbal and physical influences they impart to their child about water

If the parent themself exhibits nervousness or fear around water, these emotions may in turn be passed on to the baby or young child, regardless of whether they have been verbalised.

Phrases such as “don’t go near the water, it’s dangerous!”, or actions including hastily dragging a child away from an aquatic environment such as the edge of a pool are likely to cultivate within a young child a negative attitude toward water, and in turn will magnify the difficulties associated with introducing the child to the water or swim lessons.

During initial swim lessons in particular, it is important for parents to be positive and to display their enthusiasm for the experience. Young children, and especially babies, are extremely in tune with their mum and dad’s reactions and responses, and an infant’s reaction to a new environment, sights, sounds and people will to a large extent be determined by the response of their carer.

For this reason, parents need to remain relaxed throughout the duration of a swim lesson. A parent’s body language is an important component of ensuring early swim lessons go smoothly, and is integral to the success of the water familiarisation and learn-to-swim processes.

A parent who is nervous and clings to their child or holds them out of the water sends a message to the child that the child is in an unsafe environment. Instead, the parent in the swim lesson should remain relaxed with your shoulders at the water’s surface or just below, and gently support the child in the water, or alternatively, if the child is old enough, they should encourage the independence of the baby in the water and allow the baby to hold onto them.

Parental involvement in the child’s lesson is fundamentally important.

The education provided by the instructor in correcting submersion techniques and providing guidelines for activities is paramount to a child’s progression, and allows the parent themselves to become a teacher outside of the structured lesson environment.

The full benefits of a swim lesson are acquired through active participation in lessons and listening to instructor’s guidelines for activities. An enthusiasm for all the swim lesson activities is essential….and in most cases requires the parent getting wet!

While most classes don’t require you to be able to swim, young children learn from what their parents do, so demonstration is a wonderful tool and hastens the learning process. When submerging or getting wet, parental communication with the child through facial expressions and tone of voice can provide the child with much-needed confidence.

Being positive about going under the water lets the child know that it is ok to submerge, and a parent’s resistance to such activities along with behaviours such as wiping eyes after surfacing should be avoided. Instructors will facilitate activities through the parents and, as such, positive reinforcement of the child through praise given at all stages is an important role of the parent.

Children love attention from their parents, and their confidence in the water will flourish naturally with praise

It is important to remember that every child learns at their own individual pace. Learning to swim is not a race in itself, so comparisons made with others in a class or efforts made to rush the learn-to-swim process often hinder the child’s swim development.

Furthermore, forcing a distressed or a crying child underwater is inappropriate, and can not only potentially harm a child’s swim progress, but also form the foundation of mistrust. The role of a parent in swim lessons for a child of the under 3 age group is much more than just getting in the water with the child. It involves the parent playing an active part in their child’s aquatic learning and education, as well as a respect for and an understanding of the water.

Contact Us today for baby swimming lessons in Brisbane Southside

The post Parental Influence in Baby/Toddler Swim Classes appeared first on Hampton Swim School.

While the media coverage of drowning incidents tends to focus on the tragic loss of young lives, a disturbing trend in the number of deaths of older Australians (55+ years) by drowning has emerged in recent years.

Last year, more than 100 adults aged over 55 drowned – a number that accounted for approximately a third of all drowning deaths for the year. What makes this statistic even more surprising, is that it represents an increase in the number of deaths against the 5-year average for this age-group of 28% (RLSSA).

The ageing of Australia’s population, and the increase in the number of older Australians “returning to a water environment” and, in turn, the increasing amount of time they spend in and around the water, is likely to be accompanied by more and more aquatic tragedies involving this group of people.

There are several reasons why older Australians are being seen to return to a water environment in greater numbers:

– EXERCISE: For low impact exercise. Swimming is an ideal form of exercise for the older age group. However, many will overestimate their ability and many will have not actively participated in aquatic activities for many years, both of which increase the risk of injury or heart attacks.

– SEA-CHANGE: Many older Australians move closer to aquatic areas in their retirement, such as near the beach or a waterway for a ‘sea-change’

– SUPERVISION: The supervision of young children (especially grandchildren with whom older Australians are spending increased amounts of their retirement) is the role served by many of the older age group

– LEISURE TIME: With a greater amount of leisure time available, older Australians are engaging in new leisure pursuits, including boating and water sports such as rock fishing. Some combine these activities with alcohol, which is a deadly combination. All that being said, it is interesting to note that most older Australian drowning victims had not intended to enter the water in the first place.

The Majority of older Australians Deaths by Drowning is Accidental

Accidentally falling (slipping) into the water at, for example, an aquatic facility or at the beach (whilst boating or fishing) accounted for nearly half of the drowning deaths involving people of an older age group.

Moreover, nearly 5 times this number of older Australians were admitted to hospital for injuries sustained while participating in aquatic activities.

Proper Aquatic Education for Older Australians Can Help Reduce the Number of Deaths

While the importance of learning to swim and acquiring “swim-safer skills” continues to be reinforced among pre-school and school-aged children, it is imperative that older Australians also remain educated about aquatic locations and the possible scenarios they may encounter at or in an aquatic environment.

Such education can help ensure a person confronted with a dangerous aquatic situation is able to implement the strategies necessary to navigate themselves and/or others safely out of danger and to use survival techniques to assist others in the event they need help or rescuing.

As long as members of our ageing population are provided with the necessary skills and education to develop competence in and around an aquatic environment, they will be able to enjoy it with the knowledge and confidence that they will be able to cope with the range of emergency situations such an environment has the potential to present.

The post Older Australians Drowning appeared first on Hampton Swim School.

There is no debate the #1 reason parents enroll their children in swimming lessons is to enhance their child’s safety in and around the water.

The post Flotation Aids appeared first on Hampton Swim School.

Less well known perhaps, is that swimming serves as a wonderful aid to the development of the social skills and behaviours of the child. Infant, toddler and pre-school swim classes provide the child with an early introduction to learning to follow instructions, and to the concepts of sharing, turn-taking and structured learning.

Swim classes also promote social interaction between participants and, through structured play during which the child learns appropriate behaviours (both right and wrong) through listening to instructions and watching others, they provide a vehicle for nurturing and enhance the social and cognitive development of the child.

At the primary school age level, the social skills acquired through early swim classes are able to be refined and further developed. Children who become team-mates in a mini or junior swimming squad are able to enjoy a group environment that fosters the development of responsibility, cooperation and teamwork, and that builds strong friendships.

Swimming has been also found to improve concentration and organisation and to aid in decreasing anxiety – the implication of which is that swimming can help develop a well-rounded, confident and happy child and, by association that it aids in improving the child’s performance at school.

Despite being regarded as an individual sport, swimming at the competitive level (whether racing at a local swim club or competing at state or national standard), continues to afford a young swimmer with opportunities to develop their social skills.

Competitive swimmers tend to be less likely to be aggressive or bully others as the sport of swimming fosters a spirit of sportsmanship while setting and striving to attain goals that can only be reached through hard work and dedication.

The positive social attributes nurtured by an involvement in swimming reduce the likelihood of a child swimmer of high-school age being requiring discipline or acquiring anti-social behaviours such as under-age drinking, smoking or using illegal substances.

With the products of a 21^st century lifestyle such as mobile phones and the Internet reducing the amount of face-to-face communication time between individuals, the value of sports like swimming, which allow the child plenty of opportunities to develop their social skills (which in turn assist their learning, confidence and self-esteem) may never have held such importance.

For more information about the classes or to contact us.

The post Social Development and Swimming appeared first on Hampton Swim School.

Early teens and high-school students are spending less time participating in physical exercise, and indications suggest that this age group is engaging or playing sport for less than an hour a week.

When it comes to the pool, a significant decline in participation is recorded in children of the primary to high school transition age group (12 to 13 years).

So why do our kids stop swimming?

With the additional academic pressures and challenges associated with the transition to high school and settling into Year 8, it is often an easier choice for students to drop their extra-curricular activities, like swimming, at this time. Some might believe that swimming is now ‘uncool’, while a lowered self-confidence and body image attributable to the physical and emotional changes the child is dealing with may be the reason some are discouraged from attending swimming.

Others might now lack the motivation to compete or train, an activity they once enjoyed. With this age group being seen to now be engaged more than ever in sedentary activities (due to the Internet and television), one of the biggest challenges today’s society faces is childhood obesity. So, as part of their efforts to help their teen maintain a healthy lifestyle, how can parents actively encourage and provide their high-school age child with the direction to find the time to keep swimming?

To keep teenagers motivated, swimming has to be fun!

A teenager’s peers will play a very influential role in their lives, so create opportunities for the teenager to be active with their friends – which will of course provide them with a much-needed social interaction not available via virtual connections. Parents may find it a challenge to communicate with their child at this age, and being able to support a child’s sporting endeavours shows you care for them.

This may mean ensuring your teen has easy access to swim practice, which often means arranging transport and timetable options, as well as being properly fitted out with the right equipment including comfortable swimmers and a cap and goggles. However, being supportive doesn’t mean being pushy and intrusive; they will appreciate your subtle interest and encouragement.

It has been proven that children who participate in sports tend to stay active throughout their adult life, so it’s important not to turn a child off participation. Once started, teenagers will often find swimming provides them with the feeling of well-being, reduced stress, and increased strength and energy, which eventually leads to them gravitating towards the pool without nudging from a parent.

Other benefits of swimming

The even better news is that swimming often develops higher self esteem, contributes to better academic performance, and renders the child less likely to engage in undesirable behaviours (smoking, alcohol, drugs) than non-participants. Naturally, there are the physical benefits of swimming that will aid assist in preventing the onset of heart disease and diabetes and the like in later life.

With the daily stresses of school, peers and family life, most teenagers are full of excuses not to be active. Recreational swim squads provide an opportunity to exercise without being pressured to compete, and are an ideal outlet for the teenager to remain involved in an activity that is healthy and fun, and that develops their social and interpersonal skills.

We offer swimming squads in the South Side of Brisbane.

The post High School Squad Swimming: Why You Should Encourage Your Child to Continue Swimming Lessons in High School appeared first on Hampton Swim School.

Toddler and pre-school aquatic programs (13 months to 4 year age bracket) afford an opportunity to introduce young children to the associated joys and risks of being in or around water.

These lessons conducted within these programs generally focus on developing water familiarisation and confidence and learn-to-swim readiness with an underlying emphasis on water-safety instruction not only for the parent but also the little swimmer themselves.

However, having a child attend swimming lessons at this age is not license for a parent to become complacent about their child’s swimming ability and the safety and security of their child around water.

Drowning is the leading cause of accidental death in Australia for children under 4 years of age.

While we have probably all heard of baby swimmer success stories and toddler swimming prodigies, water-familiarisation classes taken through swim schools are not designed to teach children to survive independently in the aquatic environment, and they DO NOT make your child drown proof.

Even though swimming lessons can provide an additional ‘layer of protection’ against childhood drowning, they should NOT be independently promoted as means for ensuring the risk of drowning is reduced.

Children of the age bracket in question are most at risk within and around water because of a growing curiosity and an uncertainty of behaviour having its origin in a newfound independence and mobility.

Under the age 4, children do not have the capacity to mentally comprehend the dangers associated with water as they are not yet able to fully recognize and understand the concept of cause and effect.

Although a toddler attending swim lessons might be able to float unaided or perform a turnaround manoeuvre from the edge of the pool, the chances are that in a hazardous water-related situation this child would not be able to make a correct judgment about the most appropriate problem-solving strategy to employ to resolve the situation.

At this point, drowning is a genuine possibility. All this should not be construed as suggesting that swimming lessons are a waste of time and money and, in fact, of course the opposite is true and there is much to be gained from an infant/toddler swimming program. The key point here, which is really just common sense, is that a parent needs to remain realistic about their child’s capabilities in the water (whatever the age of their child).

With all that being said, just what does a child under the age of 4 learn from a swimming program?

Major benefits of swimming lessons for toddlers and pre-schoolers are listed below:

– Proper poolside and in-water behaviour including reinforcement of the basic safety message “never swim without my Mummy or Daddy.”

– Entering the water using entries appropriate for their age and development – Development of vital breath control skills including holding breath and bubbling blowing

– Initiating submersion comfortably and for a distance up to 5 metres, including reaching for the side/recovering onto an object such as steps or a swim bench

– Learning to orientate vertically (i.e. turn around to the side) and horizontally (i.e. front to back and vice versa) in the water

– Ability to hold onto the side/edge of pool independently

– Floating on their back and front

– Rudimentary kicking and paddling skills

– Independent exit

– Learning to call for assistance (i.e. help!). Quite often young children are told to be quiet, and are reluctant to yell. We teach them that this behaviour is acceptable in certain situations.

-Learning NOT to swim in clothing (this includes the Swim Safer Weeks). Instead we teach the young child to associate swimming with a routine that includes taking their clothing off, putting their swimmers on, and getting into the pool with Mum or Dad. We do not promote the message to the kids that it is ‘ok to swim in clothes’.

– More of an understanding of their capabilities and potential risks of the water.

There are plenty of wonderful reasons to teach your toddler or preschooler to swim

Infant, toddler and pre-school swimming programs should be viewed as an opportunity to build the confidence of the child in and around water and to encourage within them enjoyment and respect for the water, while at the same time aiding the development of the child’s physical, mental, social and emotional skills in a safe, controlled environment that will provide the foundation for the child’s future learn-to-swim skills.

The post Toddler & Pre-School Aquatics appeared first on Hampton Swim School.

Baby bath seats and other aids are designed to keep a baby’s head up and out of the water, leaving a carer’s hands free to wash their infant and often easing the strain on the carers’ back. A range of bath aids specific to the age and size of a baby are available, and they include bath seats, cradles, hammocks, recliners, supports and rings. They are generally made of plastic, rubber or foam.

Infant drowning in baby bath aids is a tragedy that many may be unaware of

Records of the Royal Lifesaving Society of Australia show that six babies less than 13 months old have drowned in a bath aid in Australia over the past decade; with many more babies have been involved in a near drowning or immersion accident in a bath aid.

These incidents have occurred when the child has been left unsupervised in a bath aid while the carer has attended to other activities including answering the phone or door, retrieving their child’s clothes, or even watching television.

An infant in a bath, irrespective of whether they are in a bath aid, requires constant supervision, and the use of a bath aid should not lull a carer into a false sense of security about their supervisory obligations at bath time and the safety of the unattended child in the bath.

The following scenarios are typical of tragedies associated with the use of a bath aid:
– Bath aid tipping over – especially common with aids having a slip-resistant base where the suction caps have not adhered properly to the bathtub surface
– Baby comes out of the seat or is found slumped over the bath aid
– Bath aid does not provide adequate support – infants are top heavy and very often do not have the neck strength to move their head away and out of the water.
– Entrapment in the seat often a result of rough movement or another child tipping over the aid (approximately 30% of bath aid drowning victims are in the bathtub with another child).
– tipping of the bath aid – they should be regularly and carefully checked for defects or worn/broken parts.

If movement or tipping of the bath aid occurs while it is being used it should be immediately discarded

The Trade Practices Baby Bath Aids’ Regulation effective May 2005 prescribes the mandatory standard for baby bath aids. This standard was introduced following 5 child drownings linked to baby bath aids, and it includes various product and warning label requirements for bath aids and their packaging. Although bath aids are useful, it is vital that parents remember that there is a risk of drowning associated with their use, and that babies left unsupervised in these products have drowned.

Constant supervision of the child in a bath aid is essential and can help avoid an unnecessary tragedy

To further improve the safety of your child in and around water we recommend starting swimming lessons as early as in infancy. Hampton Swim School provides swimming lessons for infants and babies on the South Side of Brisbane.

© 2010 Julia Ham/Hampton Swim School Pty Ltd

The post Dangers of Bath Aids appeared first on Hampton Swim School.

Having arrived from the liquid environment of their mother’s womb, babies feel quite comfortable in water, until the age of approximately 12 months, when they lose their natural responses to the aquatic environment. Starting swimming lessons before your baby develops a fear of water will give them a great advantage in building swimming skills.

Steps to Take Before Starting Swimming Lessons

Enrolling your child in swimming lessons may seem challenging at first, but with some preparation it will be a memorable and enjoyable experience for both the parent and the baby. Here are some steps to take:

Decide on the Best Time to Start

A general rule of thumb says you should wait until your baby is 3 months old, however, Hampton Swim School is the first swimming school in Australia offering free swimming classes for babies from birth to 3 months. Our BabyBegins program gently introduces children to water and creates a bonding opportunity for new parents and their babies. You can consult your health provider to make sure your baby is ready for swimming.

Familiarise Your Baby With Water During Bath Time

You can use bath time to get your baby accustomed to being in the water. We talk in depth about how to use bath time for water conditioning in the Baby Bath Conditioning blogpost.

Find a Swimming School That Provides Classes for Babies

Your baby needs proper conditions for its early swimming classes to benefit from them. At swim schools specialising in infant aquatics, like Hampton Swim School, the staff will make sure that the water in the pool is heated to the right temperature and that you and your baby make the most of the time spent in water. The instructors will guide you through a series of gentle activities that will contribute to your child’s development.

Make Sure You Feel Comfortable in the Water Yourself

Swimming lessons should be a relaxing, enjoyable experience for you and your baby. If you don’t feel comfortable in the water, think about taking a few swimming lessons to brush up your skills.

Arrive Early Enough to Prepare for the Swimming Lesson

Allow enough time to get you and your baby ready for the swimming class. Don’t feed your baby during the 30 minutes before class to avoid spitting up during the lesson.

What to Take Checklist:

• Towels
• Swimwear
• Swim diapers
• Dry clothes
• Stroller or infant seat

Enjoy the Experience!

With proper preparation, your baby’s first swimming class will be an unforgettable experience for both of you. So why wait? Contact Hampton Swim School and schedule your newborn Swimming Class today!

The post How To Prepare Your Baby For Swimming appeared first on Hampton Swim School.

Many parents are well aware of the potential dangers that residential swimming pools and bathtubs pose to children of all ages.

However, even if you don’t own a pool, there are less obvious drowning hazards that might be overlooked by discerning parents wanting to provide a safe environment in which to raise their children. Water associated areas in and around the home should always be checked first when carers are seeking their absent child.

Children can drown within seconds in a few centimetres of water. Parents should be mindful of the following other aquatic areas around the home besides a pool or bathtub that present a drowning threat to young children:

Drowning Dangers Around the Home

INFLATABLE POOLS: inexpensive, blow up or demountable pools (anywhere from 20cm in height) often fall outside pool fencing legislation and may be purchased by consumers without consideration of any barriers necessary to help protect young children from the dangers of water. Remember to empty and dismantle these pools after use.

SPA & HOT TUBS; always secure the safety cover on your spa to prevent children from gaining access when it is not in use. Some non-rigid covers can still allow a child to slip into the water with the cover appearing to still be in place, so use additional barriers such as locking the door leading to the spa or fencing around the spa.

TOILETS; when a small child falls into a toilet, they are unable to pull themselves out due to their inherent top-heaviness. Accordingly, always keep the toilet lid down, and use a toilet lock or latch and lock bathroom/laundry doors to prevent access.

PONDS/WATER FEATURES/BIRD BATHS; Young children are drawn to man-made landscape ponds or water fountains which often have no barrier to prevent access. All outdoor water features should have a layer of wire or mesh to prevent access.

BUCKETS/CONTAINERS; The stability of buckets makes it nearly impossible for top-heavy kids to free themselves when they fall into a bucket headfirst. Never leave a bucket containing even a small amount of liquid unattended, and empty immediately and store when finished. Parents need to be aware that items left outside to accumulate water may constitute a potential drowning hazard. Such items, apart from buckets/containers and inflatable pools, include eskies, post holes and pet water bowls.

Children and their parents are often ignorant of the drowning threat that these items pose, and it is vital that parents inspect the surroundings of their home for such potential household drowning hazards on an ongoing basis.

For swimming lessons in Brisbane Contact us

Swimming Pool Drownings

32 drowning deaths in the 4 and under age group during 2009 of which 84% (27) were the result of a child falling or wandering into a backyard swimming pool. In 2016 there were 11 swimming pool drownings.

For every one of these lost lives there are more than 4 emergency hospitalisations from near drowning and, of these hospitalized children, one will be left with permanent brain damage. Alarmingly, 8 out of 10 children have needed to be rescued from a near-drowning experience – fortunately not so serious as to require hospitalisation. Such statistics are often ignored and unreported.

One such story which I feel compelled to report is that of Samuel Morris

In April 2006, at age 2 years and 8 months, Samuel became a victim of a near drowning and was found floating by his mother in their backyard pool. A faulty pool fencing panel had devastated and changed the course of the lives of Samuel and his family forever. Samuel was frothing at the mouth when his mother first performed CPR.

On the way to the Emergency department Samuel received defibrillation, oxygen and adrenalin shots before his toddler-sized body was placed into an induced coma and mechanical support was provided to assist him breathe.

In ICU Samuel was subject to a myriad of x-rays, scans and tests designed to determine the extent of his brain damage. The notion of organ donation was discussed with his parents, Michael and Joanne. Samuel spent another 3 days on life support before it was switched off. Samuel was not expected to live, yet remarkably he did. Over the next 6 days, Samuel was hooked up to what seemed like every piece of machinery known to man – machines to monitor his every breath, his rate of breathing, his oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations and the acidity levels in his blood, and he was fed via a gastric tube and administered high doses of medication through other tubes.

Physiotherapy was performed to aid in drawing the salt water from his lungs as a team of 50-60 cared for Samuel around the clock. Joanne says, “The worst part was that Samuel had terrible, actually they were absolutely horrific spasms in which he would arch his back so badly that only the back of his head and the back of his heels were touching the bed. During those spasms Samuel made unimaginably awful sounds that I never want to hear again.” The immediate threat was over, but the outcome was still not definite. During this period, doctors did their best to prepare the Morris’ for the worst, but they also gave them hope.

At first, Samuel had no real connection with outside stimuli and was unable to see. Over 4 months, while in Paediatric Care, his daily therapy and testing routine from 7am to 10pm included chest physio, stretches, occupational therapy, neurology visits, hydrotherapy and cuddle time. Samuel’s responses gradually began to improve.

Once home, the Morris’ were provided with a list of things to do to make their home more comfortable and suitable for a 3 year old that was not only wheelchair bound, but also reliant on his carers around the clock.

The remodelling of their home including the necessary refurbishment and the provision of access ramps, hospital beds and hoists, along with the purchase of wheelchairs, cost the Morris’ over $100,000. They received no health care assistance.

Today, 4 years later, Samuel has had 7 major operations which have included a full spinal correction, soft tissue release in his hips, and having the top of his leg bone cut off and rotated to pull his joints back into the plates, and he has had a permanent feed tube inserted, as well as a pump inserted under his skin running from the top to bottom of his spine through which medication used to alleviate the spasms that he continues to experience is administered to his spine. Samuel has had 38 hospital admissions due to respiratory infections and pneumonia which are directly linked to the chronic lung diseases he has suffered as a result of the near drowning.

Samuel’s father Michael remains optimistic, yet realistic. “The reality of this journey is that we don’t know the answers. Optimistic doctors have suggested that Samuel will be with us to perhaps his late teens, but it all comes down to our ability to preserve the health of his lungs which are constantly at risk of infection.”

The truly remarkable outcome of this story is the passion and dedication to caring for Samuel that Michael and Jo-anne continue to demonstrate. In support of those children disabled by near drowning and preventing future drowning incidents through education and awareness, the Morris’ have established the Samuel Morris Foundation.

To find out more about the plight of the Samuel Morris Foundation, or to make a donation, visit the Samuel Morris Foundation website www.samuelmorrisfoundation.org.au.

Contact us for swimming lessons in Brisbane

The post Major Causes Of Drowning At Home appeared first on Hampton Swim School.