Devastating drowning of 3-year-old inspires Tennessee mom to create 'water guardian' tag

Jessica Bliss | The Tennessean

Levi Hughes wore his life jacket almost all day.

When he was swimming in Gulf of Mexico. While flying his kite on the beach. Even when eating M&Ms for a snack.

When the 3-year-old sat down for dinner on a June night almost one month ago, slurping up Spaghetti-Os on the balcony of his family's vacation house, Levi finally took off his floaty.

There seemed no reason to have it on. No warning of the tragedy to come.

Nicole Hughes talks about Levi's Legacy Nicole Hughes talks about her Levi's Legacy lanyards and her son Tuesday, July 3, 2018.

Levi and his two older sisters were on an annual summer trip, traveling from Tennessee with their parents to meet their closest friends. There were six families staying together at adjoining duplexes in Fort Morgan, Ala., that week — 12 adults and 17 children.

All the dads on the trip were physicians, buddies who completed their residencies together. The day had been filled with sun, sand and satisfaction.

As the adults cleaned up after dinner that night, the kids — dressed in matching yellow T-shirts — watched America's Funniest Home Videos on the TV and waited for it to get dark enough for a moonlit crab hunt.

Levi's mom, Nicole, stopped to grab a treat for her brown-eyed boy.

She filled a bowl with Cheetos, which he promptly spilled. Then, still smiling, she broke a brownie in two, putting half aside for Levi and popping the other half in her mouth. She gave him the sweet, ruffled his brown hair, and went to pick up the kitchen.

As she started to gather her kids a couple minutes later to get them ready for the night's excursion, she stepped out onto the balcony that overlooked the house's gated pool.

She glanced down. Then she screamed.

Face down in the deep end was a little boy in a yellow shirt.

'They tried to desperately to save him'

Hughes sprinted down the spiral staircase and dove into the water. One of the dads vaulted over the balcony and landed in the pool. They reached Levi at the same moment. He was motionless.

The men did what they could to revive him. They had a full intubation kit on hand. They inserted a tube in Levi's airway to try and help him breathe. They shocked his small heart. They got a pulse before the ambulance arrived.

"They tried so desperately to save him," Hughes said.

But she knew her son was dead.

Levi's devastating drowning broke the family to pieces. It would be easy now — only a month later — to stay in bed all day and cry, she says. But Nicole Hughes won't let her little boy's death paralyze her.

The Tennessee mom is turning tragedy into purpose.

Although Levi slipped away when no one was swimming, Hughes believes she can help other parents most through more vigilance by the water. She has created the "Water Guardian” tag. It is the size of a credit card and comes with a lanyard meant to be worn around the neck as a tangible reminder of who is responsible for watching the kids.

It can be ordered online for no more than it costs to create, and it has been endorsed by the American Lifeguard Association as a movement that could help save lives.

"I can't sit here for the rest of summer and read news story after news story about other children drowning," she says. "I can't bring Levi back, but I can sure as hell try to save someone else's baby."

When the protections failed

The truth about drowning About 1 in 5 people who die from drowning are children 14 years and younger. Here are ways you can prevent it.

A heavy door. A fence. A vacation home filled with doctors and parents.

There were so many protections in place to prevent Levi's drowning.

All were ill-fated.

In the few minutes his mom turned to clean up, the lively little boy somehow slipped outside, past the door and the gate, and ended up in the pool.

"Nobody ever told me about the statistics on drowning," Hughes says.

And then she recites them — which she can now do by heart.

Drowning is the leading cause of unintentional death for children ages 1 to 4, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The youngest children most often drown in pools, hot tubs and spas — and 69 percent of kids who drown were in the water unexpectedly, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

That's the statistic that really gets to Hughes.

Drownings don't always happen when you are wearing your swimsuit, she emphasizes. They happen when you are loading the car after a Fourth of July party and looking for your casserole dish and your child slips back out to the pool.

In Tennessee, 22 children drowned in 2016, according to state's department of health.

It can happen so quickly.

"The research consistently proves there is no alternative to supervision when it comes to water safety," Hughes says. "Levi got out of a heavy door and the pool had a fence. And, both of his parents — and several other adults — were in the room when he slipped away for a moment."

The last text Hughes sent to her husband, Jonathan, in the days before their son's death was to ask him to deadbolt the doors to the beach house before he went to bed.

She worried about Levi waking up in the middle of the night or early in the morning when the adults were sleeping and wandering down to the pool through an unlocked door.

The next text she sent Jonathan was Sunday night — the night Levi died.

"Let me know when you get to the hospital," it said.

He loves dogs, being dirty and water

Levi was all boy.

"If it was loud and crazy and fast he loved it," his mother says.

He could often be found jumping off the couch into a huge pile of pillows in the family's Bristol, Tenn., home, or trying to scale the refrigerator like it was a metal mountain.

He loved dogs. He loved being dirty. He loved his sisters.

He would take their fairy princess wands and make them into swords. He would put on their tutus and dance himself into a make-believe battle.

He also loved water.

The night Levi was found in the pool, he was airlifted to USA Medical Center in Mobile, Alabama. He died at the hospital just after 4 a.m. on June 11.

That same weekend in Nashville, another 3-year-old also drown in his family’s above-ground swimming pool.

The little boy, Joseph Warfield, was at his home on Rocky Mountain Parkway, according to police. His 25-year-old stepbrother was doing household chores and supervising Joseph when he looked outside and saw the child motionless in the pool, police said.

The child’s father was about to enter his vehicle to leave when he heard a commotion in the backyard. He ran to assist in performing CPR until medical personnel arrived, according to police. The boy’s mother was also said to be at home.

The little boy was rushed to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital where he died. No foul play was suspected, police said.

One of Hughes' biggest fears is that parents will read her story and dismiss it.

"Everyone is like, 'That's her tragedy. That’s not going to happen to me, because I watch my kids,'" she says. "Well, I did too. ...

"My husband is a softball coach, and I am girl scout leader and room mom and English teacher. We really are attentive, educated parents."

Hughes spent her time reading all the articles moms do when trying to raise healthy kids: the dangers of sun exposure, why they should eat organic food, all the reasons to limit time on phones and iPads.

"Why was it that every time I turned around I was reading the same stupid articles?," she says. "I am so sick of reading about sunscreen and screen time and cavities.

"Can we talk about drowning for a minute? If I didn't know the statistics, I am pretty sure no one else does either."

'I don't want to be an advocate for water safety. I want to be a mom of three kids.'

Hughes' end goal is not only to have people wear the "water guardian" tags but also to have signs put up in beach houses and lake houses and vacation homes across the country.

A reminder that even when you are preparing dinner and the kids have access to water they are in danger. It's a message the American Lifeguard Association wants to reinforce. Even when lifeguards are around, there's no substitute for a distraction-free adult on watch.

"Knowing Levi's story, my heart feels so harmed," says BJ Fisher, Director of Health and Safety for American Lifeguard Association, Inc. "We feel this is a truly worthy cause, and it’s a movement that really will save a lot of lives."

And Hughes is not waiting for her grief to lessen, not even a little, to make that happen.

"I have never felt more urgency and focus and determination," Hughes says. "I am getting it done now because it was summer now.

"If I waited until it wasn’t sad anymore ...," she reflects. "When am I not going to be sad?"

Reach Jessica Bliss at 615-259-8253 and jbliss@tennessean.com or on Twitter @jlbliss.

CHILD SELF-RESCUE WATER SAFETY PROGRAM

Beyond a regular swim program, survival swimming lessons for infants and young children teach them skills to potentially save themselves if they find themselves in the water alone.

During one-on-one lessons with only an instructor and child, kids learn to roll onto their back to float, rest, and breathe, and to maintain this position until help arrives.

More info: You can find safety instructors for one-on-one lessons nationwide at www.infantswim.com.

Pool safety tips

Install a four-sided fence with a self-closing, self-latching gate around all pools and spas .

Designat e a water watcher to supervise children at all times around the water. This person should not be reading, texting, using a smart phone or be otherwise distracted .

Lear n how to swim and teach your child how to swim .

Lear n how to perform CPR on children and adults .

Kee p children away from pool drains, pipes and other openings to avoid entrapments .

Ensur e any pool and spa you use has drain covers that comply with federal safety standards

Source: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and poolsafely.gov

GET A WATER GUARDIAN TAG

Nicole Hughes chose a water guardian tag on purpose. Like "tag" you're it. It's your turn to watch the kids in the water.

To purchase a tag visit: www.levislegacy.com/order