Josh The Baby Otter
June 3, 2009 We Were Amazed Editorial This is a friendly but very, very serious reminder. The staff at South Boston Online were amazed when we received a children s book called Josh, the Baby Otter last week. The news release that came along with the book made this statement: According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Number One cause of death for one- to four-year-olds is drowning. (EDITOR S NOTE: The Center, abbreviated CDCP , is the world-renowned federal health agency in Atlanta that investigates epidemics.) Now, we all know that unattended young children will go straight for the water. Water attracts kids it s what s called an attractive nuisance . Everyone knows that tragedies occur if children play in water by themselves, if they aren t watched every minute. But what amazed us most here at South Boston Online was hearing that drowning is the Number One cause of death for babies and toddlers. Yes, Number One. And now (as Paul Harvey used to say), the rest of the story. One year ago, a toddler named Joshua Collingsworth slipped away from a Sunday afternoon family gathering. The Collingsworths live in Nebraska; they own a backyard pool that had just been opened that morning for their guests. Joshua was found face down in the pool. Apparently, he approached the pool to fill his toy water pistol and toppled in. Even though he could not have been in the pool for more than a few minutes, he was unconscious and not breathing. Qualified family members administered CPR to Joshua. An ambulance rushed him to the hospital. He was then med-flighted to Children s Hospital in Omaha. But it was too late. Three days later, Joshua, still unresponsive, was taken off life support. In the midst of this unspeakable tragedy, the Collingsworth family bravely started asking themselves some tough, difficult questions. What did we miss? What should we have known? Joshua s father, Blake Collingsworth, concluded that one key is presenting a Water Awareness Message to young children. He says, The problem is we think we will always be with them when they are around water. It s time we started talking to children about the dangers of water. Yes, water is fun, but ONLY WHEN WE ARE ALL TOGETHER. For this reason, Mr. Collingsworth wrote the book mentioned above Josh, the Baby Otter a story that promotes water safety for very young children and the parents of these little ones. Otters are aquatic animals, of course, but even young otters need to be trained before they can enter the water by themselves. There s a good lesson there. In addition, the Collingsworth family rose above their tragedy to create a foundation named for Joshua. So far, the Joshua Collingsworth Memorial Foundation has distributed Josh, the Baby Otter to every elementary school in the state of Nebraska, with a plea for teachers to read it to their students before the summer vacation begins. The Collingsworth family wants to get the message out to everyone. For information on how you can help spread the message, log onto joshuamemorial.org or joshthebabyotter.org. The mailing address for the Joshua Collingsworth Memorial Foundation is P.O. Box 21712, Lincoln, NE 68542. Blake and Kathy Collingsworth are willing to speak with anyone to help convey their message. Get in touch with them. Anyone who wants to look at our copy of Josh, the Baby Otter , is welcome to stop in at the Online office. --southbostononlineJune 3rd, 2009 Children s water safety and Josh The Baby Otter Posted by Tyler in Safety Tags: Tags: Collingsworth, dads, drown, Missoula, mom, Montana, mothers, Parents, Safety, water Today I got a press packet and tried hard not to cry as I read about Joshua Collingsworth, a Nebraska todder who drowned last year in a backyard pool. It was one of those unforseeable, but preventable, tragic things that forever changed a family in a m --tnonlineJune 3rd, 2009  Children s water safety and Josh The Baby Otter   Posted by Tyler in Safety  Tags: Tags: Collingsworth, dads, drown, Missoula, mom, Montana, mothers, Parents, Safety, water  Today I got a press packet and tried hard not to cry as I read about Joshua Collingsworth, a Nebraska todder who drowned last year in a backyard pool. It was one of those unforseeable, but preventable, tragic things that forever changed a family in a matter of moments.    The Collingsworth family, in all their grief and heartbreak, somehow found it in themselves to turn their experience into a lesson for other families. Blake Collingsworth, Joshua s father, wrote a children s book called Josh The Baby Sea Otter that aims to fill in a message he felt was too often missing from discussions about young kids and water safety: That water can be fun, but only when an adult is present.    The book is age-appropriate and thankfully not heavy-handed in its water safety message. A copy has been distributed to every elementary school in Nebraska. I m not aware of any similar educational effort in western Montana, but given how much we Montanans like our rivers, I expect we do have something in place.    Looking out the Missoulian s office window right now, I can see the Clark Fork rushing by, fast and high. And I m thinking about the fact that my daughter recently took up fishing with her dad. And about how she wants to take swimming lessons like her best friend up the street. And about how hot it was this last weekend, and how we bought a new little wading pool for the backyard.    Water s a way of life in western Montana, and I would venture to guess that most parents here are pretty familiar with water safety. I would hope we are passing that knowledge on to our children, both explicitly and by example. But you can t live your life filled with worry all the time, and you can t watch your kid every second of every day.    So let s all take a moment to make sure our kids get the message: Don t go near any water unless mom or dad is with you.    - Tyler Christensen --missoulamomJune 4, 2009    A book to save young lives    'Josh the Baby Otter' brings home lesson on water safety    By CHRIS PARKER cparker@tnonline.com  Two-and-a-half year old Joshua Collingsworth briefly slipped out of sight at a family gathering at his Lincoln, Neb., home. Minutes later, his mother's scream shot through the happy chatter: Josh had been found in the swimming pool. Desperate attempts at cardiopulmonary resuscitation failed, and he died three days later, on June 4, 2008.    To cope with his grief, and to prevent other tragic drownings, Josh's dad, Blake Collingsworth, has written a children's book about water safety "Josh the Baby Otter." Copies of the book, geared to preschool/kindergarten-age children, were given to Our Lady of the Angels Academy in Lansford and to the Jack & Jill Preschool in Lehighton, after a family member read a TIMES NEWS account of the death in May of 2-year-old Julian Hausman-Markell of Coaldale, who drowned in a small swimming pool at his grandparents' home in Jim Thorpe, also at a family gathering.    Proceeds from the book benefit the nonprofit Joshua Collingsworth Memorial Foundation, which promotes water safety and other children's' issues.    "Josh the Baby Otter" is about a baby otter who learns how to float before he learns to swim, and to never go near water without a parent or friend.    "Children are not waterproof at any age," Blake Collingsworth said in a telephone interview. But babies as young as 6 months old can learn to float, and that could be a life-saver.    Collingsworth said he and his wife, Kathy, were working with Josh, teaching him to swim, shortly before he died. The toddler fell into the pool soon after family members who had been swimming went inside to eat.    The Collingsworth's pool was built with safety in mind. Collingsworth, a home builder, had always covered the pool and kept the gate shut when it wasn't in use. Josh always wore a life preserver when he was near the pool.    "I found a water gun in the pool that I knew had not been out there," he said. "He went out there to fill it. He thought he was going to squirt somebody."    The couple was working with Joshua, teaching him skills to help him begin to learn to swim, in the days before his death. Most children can learn to swim by age 4, "but kids at 6 months can be taught to hold their breath and float," he said.    The shock of his son's death will never fade.    "You just never dream that that's something you'll ever have to deal with," he said.    By writing the book, distributed through the foundation, Blake Collingsworth hopes to make learning to float and never being near water without a buddy "second nature."    The book is available to schools, civic organizations and individuals by visiting joshuamemorial.org or by calling the Collingsworth's at (402) 730-3232.  The Collingsworths read the book to preschool and kindergarten classes near their home. They hope the small listeners carry the message home.    "Kindergarteners have little brothers and sisters. Hopefully they go home and tell Mom and Dad what they learned at school," he said.    Collingsworth hopes the lesson to never go near water without a buddy "at least slows kids down. I'd rather find them standing by the pool than floating in it."    Josh's aunt, Nicole Bennett, arranged to have the books given to Jack & Jill and Our Lady of the Angels after reading of Julian's death. She lives in Lincoln, Neb., and was at the family gathering when the tragedy happened. --tnonline