Courtneys Rule - WHY?

13th October 2011

Why the rule for Courtney?

On June 11th, 2011 the knock at the door came for Cathy and Anthony Simon. A knock that no parents should ever have to endure. The police notifying them, that their beloved 14 year old daughter Courtney was missing presumed drowned in Lake Macquarie.

As a parent of a child who drowned the numbness in your body is paralysing. The voices of those around you are blurred into echoes, you just lose sight of reality that this, this is all a very bad dream. It’s a joke right? It surely can’t be true?

In the days after Courtney’s body was found the reality set in for Cathy and Anthony. The anger came in waves and the questions mounted.

Here was a young girl, their beloved daughter, full of fun, laughter and the sunshine of her parents eyes gone in a split second. Drowning is quick they say but it is also preventable. So, if the Rule for Courtney that day was compulsory for her to wear her life jacket why am I supporting these two loving parents in their grief and despair? A simple rule. Rules that every boatie or licensed person on the water knows. It’s in the tests for licenses BUT... Don’t you hate the BUT’s in life?

That day Courtney was with friends. Friends who were unlicensed, in an unregistered boat (so its reported) and sadly a boat that was placed in water by other adults who should have known better. I’m not here to debate the faults of that day. The whole tragedy is just tragic and sad.

Courtney told her mum they were setting out on Friday but they never left. The weather was calm, however Saturday took her life in one wave of water and for hours she fought currents, tried to swim and then lost the strength and fitness to continue. Courtney drowned. Her life gone. All because she wasn’t wearing a life jacket. Could you swim in those conditions against all the odds? Not many do.

So, in partnership with Hannah’s Foundation, the Simon Family are now educating everyone on the water. It’s quite simple. If entering water in a boat or water vessel of any type ??? WEAR YOUR LIFE JACKET.

Just because you can swim doesn’t mean you won’t drown. Courtney is proof of that. A life jacket is your seat belt on the water so don't be a fool, just wear it. There is no excuse. Too many people in the past two weeks have lost their lives all because they were not wearing their life jackets.

The current laws are that children under 12 MUST wear a life jacket. Adults and children must wear them when crossing bars or the weather changes. The decision is discretionary to the skipper. Why not just make them compulsory instead for everyone and save the unnecessary heartache? It’s a bit late once you are swamped, if your boat is upside and you are fighting for your life in panic and trying to find that life jacket. What an enormous burden boaties have placed on them. Sadly for Courtney, her skipper is tragically burdened too, because a day of fun for three teens turned horribly wrong. If only for the life jacket.

So instead of wondering why us crazy parents in grief and anger like myself and Cathy get on the bandwagon and jump, scream up and down and cause a kafuffle with rules, legislation and creating awareness to save YOUR life or someone else you know. Think about it.

I have a saying; the “Maths of Water Safety”. We all love maths don’t we? The true cost of saving a life on the water is about $150 for a grade one PFD. The cost of a funeral and plaque is in excess of around $8,000 - $19,000 depending on where you live. If you can’t pay, you resort to the guilty burden of the Government assistance program or charities like us that try to help. The referrals from GPs to psychologists for counselling the grieving in excess of over $2,000 on Medicare and out of pockets around $4000 because many need counselling, they cry every day. All of this in just six months and this is for the parents not siblings or anyone else.

Not to mention the additional costs of those parents or survivors of tragedies that end up in psychiatric facilities because they tried to take their life. The cost of medications to try and pretend to be ‘okay’. No parent is ‘okay’ when they lose a child.

Then, as in 60% of families add the additional impact of parents losing their jobs (on in many cases quitting) or are so incapacitated with grief that they now rely on Centrelink to survive. The key here is Survival but the journey is bloody tough. Surviving through the tears, the list of challenges to breathe normally goes on. Oh, and to add to the list, if people do survive a drowning, the costs of hospital care on a permanent basis are excruciating.

All of this affects you the general public. Yes this hurts YOUR hip pocket come State and Federal budget time. Have I got your attention now? The maths of water safety. $150 vs $? What would you choose?

The increases in the costs to healthcare, provisions for the services by Government agencies, the huge enormous waiting list many parents find themselves on (unless they have Private Health then the costs go up even more) and government coffers paying out monies to families on Centrelink all because a $150 life jacket wasn’t worn. The seat belt of the water.

If you are a person with the slightest understanding of safety principles, you too, would support Courtney’s Rule and the other safety rules we advocate. Every person on the water has to wear a life jacket. That every boatie be licensed, learner boaties need more experience as you do with a motor vehicle. add to that the essential element of experience and knowledge that keeps us safe.

Courtney’s rule at least means Courtney didn’t die in vain It’s saving lives based on sound principles – not wrapping in cotton wool..

All of this could have been avoided if only for the $150 Life jacket.
Kat Plint
13th October 2011