.jpg)
An unimaginably horrific tragedy occurred Aug. 4 in the Arnolds Valley area when three siblings – the only children of a Charlottesville couple – drowned in the James River.
Omar, 19, Marieme, 16, and Aicha Wade, 10, the three children of Papa and Khadidiatou Wade, disappeared shortly after going into the river that Friday evening during a retreat at a Rockbridge County campground. Emergency personnel from 10 different agencies searched through the night and into the next morning before discovering the bodies, which were recovered about 26 hours after the victims went missing.
Tony McFaddin, chief deputy of the Rockbridge County Sheriff’s Office, explained to The News-Gazette how the tragedy likely unfolded. The victims may have been in shallow water and then suddenly encountered an area of deeper water. “The problem with any natural body of water, whether it’s a river or a lake, is that you can’t see what’s ahead of you or what’s under you,” he said. “The area they originally went in was shallow, but very quickly there was an underwater ledge that dropped maybe 15, 20 feet.”
There are many lessons to be learned from this awful event. First and foremost is to never enter a body of water that you are not familiar with, especially if you are not a strong swimmer. Rivers and lakes can look deceptively safe but often that is not the case at all. The water may be deeper than it appears and currents may not be readily apparent. What you don’t know can kill you.
Even in familiar surroundings, children should always have close adult supervision whenever they enter a body of water. A drowning can happen quickly and quietly anywhere there is water, particularly to unsupervised children. It can happen in lakes, rivers, oceans, pools and even bathtubs.
Learning how to swim should be on a to-do list for every family with children. Friends of Rockbridge Swimming and area swimming pools regularly offer lessons. Becoming a strong swimmer by taking lessons can greatly reduce the risk of drowning. However, even children who have had swim lessons still need to have close and constant adult supervision whenever they are around water.
Whenever anyone is on an outing that is in or near water, a responsible adult needs to take on the responsibility of supervising closely and constantly the children who are taking part. Those assigned with this task must avoid distracting activities such as reading, using a phone or consuming drugs or alcohol. When going boating, everyone should wear life jackets.
According to the Centers For Disease Control, drowning is the leading cause of death in the United States for children ages 1-4. Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death, after motor vehicle crashes, for children ages 5-14. Although children are at the highest risk, anyone can drown. Approximately 4,000 people die from drowning in the U.S. every year, or about 11 every day.
Most are preventable. All of us should do everything we can to prevent another tragedy such as what happened in the James River in Rockbridge County earlier this month.
