Mom Shares Photo Of Son’s Last Day Alive As A Warning To Other Parents

A mother lost her three-year-old son through a tragedy that could have been avoidable. Despite the intense grief that she has been battling, she has used her son’s passing as an opportunity to shed light on how to prevent such horrible accidents. She hopes to warn other parents so that the deaths of such innocent lives can be prevented.

The warning starts with an image showing the young boy blissfully swimming in a pool, unaware that these would be his very last moments and that that same very pool would be the one to take his life. His life was taken too soon, but his mother is not letting it go to waste. Instead, she has found purpose in doing everything she can so that it never has to happen again.

Are you still searching for your life purpose? You won’t believe what the science of Numerology can reveal about you.

Levi’s Final Moments

Above is a photo is three-year-old Levi on a family vacation. Like any other young child, he had no problem spending the whole day floating around until he was asked to fially come out for dinner. The boy’s smile alone shows how happy he must have felt.

Levi was wearing “puddle jumper” floatation devices wrapped around his arms. While these floaties are meant to keep him above water and prevent him from drowning, they would also be the device that takes his life.

Levi Drowned In The Pool

In a heartbreaking tragedy, Nicole Hughes lost her 3-year-old son, when he drowned inside of their family pool while she wasn’t looking.

The strange thing is that Nicole remembers that her son “had worn a life jacket or puddle jumper all day” The sad reality is that he managed to sneak away and fall into the pool: “when we were cleaning up from dinner, he somehow got out of a room filled with adults and kids, down a spiral staircase, and fell into the pool.” She noted that she now knows that “a child under 30 pounds can drown in 30 seconds and that almost 70 percent of drowning occurs during a non-swim time.”

How Did This Happen?

The mom, at first, couldn’t believe this was happening as she thought she took every measure to prevent such an accident: “I genuinely thought I was doing everything right when it came to water safety.” As she processed the death she learned: “I did not understand that children aged 1 to 4 are at the highest risk of drowning and that they most often drown when they reach water during a time they are not supposed to be swimming.”

Still, the mother just couldn’t figure out how this even happened: “In those split seconds after I saw him, it was intermingled with shock and disbelief. That’s what I kept thinking, how did he just drown? I don’t understand… “I did not know that drowning was this quiet and this silent.” The more she thought about it, the more she realized it all had to with his puddle jumper.

The Puddle Jumpers Were To Blame

Nicole ended up realizing that the puddle Jumpers her child was used to wearing in the water were to blame. She explains in a post that has since gone viral that Puddle Jumpers don’t actually help children learn how to swim and that the reason her son died is that he thought he could swim when he couldn’t. She blames the Puddle Jumper’s misleading purpose as a warning to all parents.

On her Instagram post, she explains: “Puddle Jumpers use claims like ‘learn to swim device,’ yet no aquatic instructors endorse them, instead stating that they hinder development,” she adds: “Puddle Jumpers claim ‘US Coast Guard approved’ but fail to mention that the USCG NEVER approves items for use IN POOLS, only for use on boats.” It didn’t matter how much Nicole had warned her children about water safety; the worst had happened like a real-life nightmare:

Sharing Is Caring

Despite being in a never-ending grieving period, Nicole feels a calling to share this information with everyone and anyone who will listen so that no child has to face the same fate Levi did and lose their life because they trusted the water. It’s not like Levi was trying to take a risk or disobey his mother. Nicole remembers that Levi asked her for Cheetos before running off to play with the other kids on the couches in the house. In just a matter of moments, Levi recalls placing a brownie and a handful of chips in a bowl, and then walking to the balcony to check the pool before handing the snacks to Levi. That’s when she saw her only son, face down in the pool’s deep end.

She adds in an interview with People: “I didn’t even know he was missing. That’s how short it was. It wasn’t even long enough for me to know that he was missing…I deliberately looked over the rails into the water not expecting to actually see anything.”

False Advertising

Nicole feels like Puddle Jumpers may use false marketing to drive sales, She explains that they give a false sense of security and teach young kids to trust the water. “My 3 year old falsely believed he could swim,” she adds.

It’s a heartbreaking reality but drowning among toddlers is a serious problem that happens more frequently than it should. The NDPA website has found it to be the single leading cause of death of children ages 1-4 and notes that it can happen within just 30 seconds because children don’t know how to hold their breath. Sharing this information with her followers Nicole adds: “We owe it to our children to be brave enough to accept this fact and do something about it.”

End The Misinformation

Even though she was suffering from pain and grief, Nicole didn’t waste time and got to work trying to come up with ways she could have prevented Levi’s death or at least save the next child. At one point, she thought of the idea of having a card that the child would wear that would designate a specific adult to watch children any time there is water around. The adult would be doing nothing but supervising until passing the role on to the next person.

For now, Nicole continues to raise awareness, advocating at conferences, online, and working with various organizations. An example of her work is a campaign she started with the National Drowning Prevention Alliance (NDPA) to stop the spread of misinformation from these companies. However, this kind of work means that she has to live Levi’s death over and over again. Yet she is able to use that pain as her reason to push through: “When I looked over and saw him, it was unimaginable. I could never, ever, wish that feeling on anybody. It was horrific…That was my motivation, to be fueled by this grief and also by anger… “

The Grief Is Still Looming

Nicole has made national headlines since the beginning of her new journey, working to raise awareness about drowning. However, the grief has never left her. Even now, her heart still aches: “when you have to sit in the front row at your child’s funeral, each day after that is an eternity.”

Speaking on grief and the pain that comes with it, she also wants those who have lost someone to know there is good within the hardships. She explains: “the darkness is always waiting, looking for the weak moment to pounce. Grief is messy and complicated. But one part of which I am clinging to above all else is that if you CHOOSE to see the light and goodness, you will find it. … I cannot fathom why I had to lose Levi, how the sudden death of a 3-year-old could ever be part of any plan. Yet, every day, I choose to see the goodness that still exists.”

Nicole Continues To Heal Alongside Her Other Children

Not a day goes by that Nicole doesn’t feel the absence of her son. Still, she has two other daughters and a newborn that needs her attention, and that keep her moving forward. Within the long life of the children that still surround her, Nicole finds hope.

She admits: “I want nothing more than to rewrite my present chapter. Unfortunately, I cannot, but I can choose how my succeeding chapters will be written. There will be sadness, anger, and missed milestones. But, there will also be purpose and meaning, laughter and relationships.”

Are you still searching for your life purpose? You won’t believe what the science of Numerology can reveal about you!

That’s right, the numerology of your birth date, regardless of what month you were born, can reveal surprising information about your personality.

A mother lost her three-year-old son through a tragedy that could have been avoidable. Despite the intense grief that she has been battling, she has used her son’s passing as an opportunity to shed light on how to prevent such horrible accidents. She hopes to warn other parents so that the deaths of such innocent lives can be prevented.

The warning starts with an image showing the young boy blissfully swimming in a pool, unaware that these would be his very last moments and that that same very pool would be the one to take his life. His life was taken too soon, but his mother is not letting it go to waste. Instead, she has found purpose in doing everything she can so that it never has to happen again.

Are you still searching for your life purpose? You won’t believe what the science of Numerology can reveal about you.