WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (WXYZ) — Did you know the leading cause of accidental death for children under 4 is drowning?
It’s a statistic the Goldfish Swim School in West Bloomfield is working to change as May marks Water Safety Awareness month.
To celebrate, the school says anyone who enrolls their children aged 4-6 months will be enrolled for free. That deal is set to continue through the end of the month.
"We know that the statistic is that if people sign up for swim lessons at an early age, we can reduce the statistic of drowning by up to 88%," said Mark BieBuyck, the swim school's operations manager. "Getting children acclimated and used to the water and understanding safety skills, we know that even at that age they can begin to learn what it means to be safe."
BieBuyck says it was an important lesson for his own son to learn after a drowning scare when he was younger.
"Gotta learn all the skills especially living here in Michigan where we're around a lot of water which makes it even more important to enroll in swimming lessons," said Henry BieBuyck.
Keegan Kosiba was the first 4-month-old to enroll at the Goldfish swim school. He says the skills he learned in the class as an infant saved his life at just 9 months old.
"I was on vacation in Hawaii, first summer vacation, with my grandpa," Kosiba described." I was sitting on his lap. I was going to go down this slide. I slip, I fall down and there was no one there to catch me and I go under, and I come right back up, grab the thing and pull myself out and was okay."
Today, Kosiba is on track to play water sports in college and is a swimming instructor teaching other kids at Gold Fish Swim School.
"It's pretty fun," Kosiba said. "It’s great getting to spread my love of swimming and being in the water with all these little kids and help change their lives hopefully."
For more information about the Goldfish Swim School or enrollment, visit their website.
