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Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Massachusetts Senate Signs Christian's Bill into Law

Derek Frechette,  the Northeast Chapter Leader for the National Drowning Prevention Alliance, the administrator of the CEF Foundation and a member of the J.A.D.E.S. Network, worked diligently for years to pass Christian's Law.  The bill, An Act improving water safety for children in the Commonwealth, requires all summer camps in Massachusetts to test swimmers at the beginning of the summer to determine their swimming ability level and to have on hand a coast guard approved life jacket for every at-risk swimmer.

“We have been working on getting this law passed for a long time and I am very proud and very happy that it has been signed into law,” said Senator Stephen M. Brewer, the sponsor of the bill. “One child drowns every minute across the globe making drowning the second leading cause of death of children under the age of 5. This bill will ensure that at-risk swimmers are identified and that proper precautions are taken to decrease drowning and ultimately save lives.”

Derek's son Christian, the namesake of the Christian E Frechette Foundation website; http://www.ceffoundation.org ; was four years old when he drowned at a summer camp. 

In an emotional speech Derek said;  "In loving memory of my son Christian who drowned in 2007 at age 4, I devote my life to saving other children from drowning in your honor". "Sometimes in tragedy, we find our life's purpose". "No child needs to drown, it is now my purpose to make that happen".



Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Writing Can Help You Cope With Grief and Loss

Please send us your stories so that others who have experienced a drowning incident of a loved one can benefit from your experiences.  If you have lost a loved one to drowning or are a caretaker for a loved one who has experienced a near- drowning, we want to hear your story.

According to grief counselors writing about your experiences is one of the best ways to cope with your feelings.  Even if your loved one survives there is often grief associated with survival if the person who survives changes significantly after the event. 

Any story you send us will be reviewed and edited for grammar and spelling prior to posting, so even if you do not feel like you are an accomplished writer your story will only be published a) if you want us to and b) after it has been edited for content. 

We will not post your story until we edit it for spelling and grammar usage first. 

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Share Your Story and Help Others

We want to hear from you.  You are not alone on this journey and this blog is about your lives, your stories, and what you have to say is important and can be of great value to someone who may feel alone.  We can all learn from one another.  The J.A.D.E.S. group is open to anyone who has been affected by a drowning experience.  The J.A.D.E.S. blog has been created for you to find support for yourselves and for your family. 

Write down your experiences and submit your stories.  No posts will be published until they are reviewed for content, and any of your posts can be removed at your request at any time. 

If you have started a support group, a website, a foundation or a blog, please send us your links and we will post them under "Links".