MILWAUKEE — The record Labor Day weekend heat across southeastern Wisconsin has people flocking to the water to cool down.
A Milwaukee father is urging parents and children to be diligent about life jacket safety five years after his son drowned.
"He was like the glue to our family,” said Adebisi Agoro. "I think about him every morning. Look over, look at his pictures."
A table full of pictures reminds Adebisi of his son Adebisi Jr.’s milestones and memories from when he was a newborn baby up until the day before he died at just 14 years old.
"He brought me a lot of joy,” Adebisi said. "His memories still bring me a lot of joy."
Back on a warm summer day in 2018, Adebisi and his family headed to a rural lake in Walworth County to spend a weekend on the water.
"It was a great day, it just turned into a tragic moment,” he said.
Adebisi says that tragic moment came when he was on the beach and his son was in the middle of the lake with his two sisters on a pontoon boat. Adebis remembers hearing the screams and watching from afar as his son went under.
“How helpless did you feel knowing you were too far away?” TMJ4 reporter Ben Jordan asked.
“Super helpless,” Adebisi replied. “There was nothing I could do. There was nobody close with a boat or anything. So, ultimately helpless."
Adebisi says his son knew how to swim well enough to be in the water safely with a life jacket, but the one he wore that day went over his head when he jumped into the water to retrieve his sister’s flotation device.
Investigators found Adebisi Jr.’s life jacket clasp didn’t clip correctly and it came undone.
"It wasn't a situation where his life jacket was faulty,” Adebisi said. “It was just a single slip and you know, it couldn't take it back."
Amid immense grief, Adebisi became aware of a racial disparity seen in Milwaukee and across the nation. African Americans drown in swimming pools at a rate seven times higher than white children. A Chicago children’s hospital study shows less than half of Black children receive swimming lessons due to access and affordability.
"It's not a small thing, it's epidemic, pandemic proportions,” Adebisi said. “It's a really huge number and it's something that's not talked about in the public."
While Adebisi urges local public schools to make swimming lessons mandatory for all students, he thinks it’s just as important for kids and parents to know the importance of properly fastening a life jacket.
"Making sure it's working properly, making sure it's tight, making sure everything is clipped on, you can't rush through in a process like that because there is a high possibility that you could lose your life and another parent could be in my position,” he said.
Adebisi has held several coat drives over the years to honor his son, now he hopes his legacy lives on through a message that could make all the difference.
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