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MUM'S HEARTACHE
I lost my boy in horror swimming accident when I turned away for a second – the image of his body haunts me every summer
Jenny and Rob's tragic loss brought incredible healing to others
WITH the summer holidays in full swing, many families will be looking forward to care-free days spent at the pool, whether that’s the local lido or on holiday.
But one mum is urging parents to beware of the dangers of swimming pools after tragically losing their toddler son.
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Jenny and Rob Burns, from Dallas, Texas, lost their son Beau, 14 months, after he fell into the family swimming pool in June 2022.
Now they are trying to warn other parents of pool safety, to prevent another family being devastated by such a tragedy.
Jenny, 37, said: “Families need to know that it only takes a few seconds for a tragedy to happen, and for people to be extra vigilant with their children."
It was a day like any other and the family had just finished dinner when they realised Beau was missing.
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Jenny recalled: “I was clearing away the plates, my husband Rob went upstairs to have a shower, and our daughter Emma and Beau were playing together.
“A few seconds later I turned around and Beau had disappeared.
“I ran around looking for him, but couldn’t see him.
"I screamed up to Rob that I couldn’t find Beau, he came dashing downstairs, and we both ran outside into the garden.
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“There in our swimming pool was a sight that will be etched on my memory forever.
“It was Beau floating face down in our family pool.
What to do if your baby is drowning
"In just those few seconds he’d maaged to get out of the door, and had fallen into the pool.”
The couple pulled Beau out of the water and Jenny dialled 911 while Rob, a lifeguard, performed CPR on Beau.
“I kept praying to God for him not to die,” Jenny said.
“Rob had managed to get a faint heartbeat back, and the ambulance was here within ten minutes.
"They rushed him straight to the hospital, and Rob and I followed in our car.
"I couldn’t stop being sick with the sheer fear of losing him.
“When we got there, Beau was attached to a ventilator, and for a moment I was filled with some hope.
"Surely that was a good sign.”
I sat there, feeling paralysed with grief, but a woman said to me ‘Be Beau’s mum. You’re a strong person. Pray and something good will come from this’
Jenny Burns
As Jenny sat praying by his bedside, another mother whose daughter was also unresponsive in the next room, sat with her.
“I sat there, feeling paralysed with grief,” said Jenny.
“But the woman said to me ‘Be Beau’s mum. You’re a strong person. Pray and something good will come from this’.
“And her words changed something in me.
"I got up, and started helping the nurses when they needed things, and in between I sat there praying hard.
“For four days we sat next to his bedside. And then on the fifth day they broke the news to us that Beau’s brain activity was deteriorating.
“He wasn’t going to make it.
“Our brave and bubbly toddler who had astounded us all when he started to walk at just 11 months old, loved exploring, and who clapped at everyone. It was unbearable.”
Swimming safety advice
Experts have revealed some of their top advice for both adults and kids heading to the water this summer:
How to stay safe at the beach
Gareth Morrison, Head of Water Safety at the RNLI said: "If you find yourself being swept out to sea in a rip, try to relax and float until you are free from the rip and you can then swim to safety.
"If you see someone else in danger, alert a lifeguard or call 999 or 112 and ask for the Coastguard."
How to stay safe at the swimming pool
Tiny Hearts Education, former paramedic and CEO Nikki Jurcutz said: "Always put your little one in bright or contrasting colours that would be easy to find in an emergency.
"It only takes 20 seconds to drown, little tips like this could save a life".
An Auqabliss spokesperson added: “Swimming toys such as noodles, dive rings, floaties and beach balls can be dangerous if left in the pool.
“Children may try to grab these from the pool’s edge and fall in."
How to stay safe at a waterpark
Ali Beckman, Puddle Ducks Technical Director, said: "Never send a child down the slide on their own, not only are they going to be entering the slide pool area independently, they then have to exit the pool and wait for an adult.
"And wave pools should be avoided until your child is really confident with water going over their faces and you know they are able to regain their feet independently.
“Waterparks are often very busy places and it’s easy to lose sight of a child in a split second."
As the couple faced the unthinkable, they were asked to make an impossible decision by the medical team.
“The organ donor team approached us and asked us if we would be willing to donate his organs,” Jenny remembered.
“I couldn’t bear the thought of them taking his precious organs. But Rob was adamant that we needed to.
“As a lifeguard, he knew how precious organ donation was. And when I thought about it some more, I knew he was right.
“We wanted some good to come from this unspeakable tragedy.
“So we agreed that Beau’s organs could be used.
'OVERWHELMING RELIEF'
“Because we had chosen to donate, we couldn’t hold him as his life support machine was switched off and his precious life slipped away.
“We had to say goodbye before he was taken down to the operating theatre. But we knew it was the right thing to do.
“All the nurses lined up with us to give Beau an honour walk down to the operating theatre, as we prepared to say goodbye to our boy.”
The couple knew that Beau’s liver, heart and kidneys were used to save three lives, and a year later they wrote a letter to each one through the hospital transplant team.
“I wanted to say how much I hoped that Beau’s gift had changed their lives,” said Jenny.
“I was pregnant again with our son Jack, and it would have meant so much to us knowing that they were all doing well and were happy.
“We didn’t know if we would hear anything back, but then the day Jack was born in October last year, we had a call from the hospital.
We listened to the beat of Beau’s heart deep inside his chest, and it was such a healing moment for both Rob and I
Jenny Burns
“They told us that the mum of the little boy who had received Beau’s heart, called Eli, would like to meet us. It was an amazing moment.”
The hospital put the couple in touch with Eli’s mum April who explained that Eli had been born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, which meant that only half of his heart was working properly.
He was only four months old at the time the couple lost Beau, and he had already been in and out of hospital all his short life.
Jenny explained: “She told us that she had lived day to day, not knowing whether her son was going to live or die.
“It was so emotional to hear all this. And to know that Beau’s gift had now given Eli a chance of a normal life.”
Jenny and Rob met with April and Eli the following month at the transplant centre.
'INSTANT CONNECTION'
“From the moment April walked into the room I felt a connection with her,” said Jenny.
“And it was an overwhelming sense of relief that this mum was not going to have to worry about her son dying anymore.
“For the first time, I could really see how much Beau’s life had changed the life of someone else, and it all became so purposeful.
“Eli was a bundle of energy, and when I cuddled him close, it was such an amazing moment.
“We listened to the beat of Beau’s heart deep inside his chest, and it was such a healing moment for both Rob and I.
“And Eli kept clapping his hands together, just like Beau used to do. It was uncanny.
“Now April and I text all the time. We saw each other at Christmas and we are planning to meet up again as soon as we can.”
HOW TO BECOME AN ORGAN DONOR
JUST over 4,500 people received an organ transplant in 2023 from 2,387 donors – but more than 400 people per year die waiting because there are not enough donors.
NHS Blood and Transplant says: "Only one per cent of people who die in the UK every year die in the right circumstances and in the right location to be eligible for their organs to be used to save someone’s life.
"That is why we need as large a pool of people as possible."
The law has changed so all adults are "opt-out" organ donors, meaning hospitals can use their organs unless they told the NHS they did not want to be a donor, or their family says no after they die.
Six in 10 families refuse to let doctors use their loved one's organs.
People who want their organs to be used to help others after they die can register online on this link.
Health chiefs have also added sign-up options to new passport and driving licence applications to try and boost numbers.
Eli wasn’t the only child that Beau helped.
“I’ve also met with Ginamarie too, the mum of Lionel, who was given Beau’s liver,” Jenny said.
“We had an instant connection too, and talk all the time.
"I feel like April and Eli, and Ginamarie and Lionel are all part of our family now.
“I haven’t heard from the 40 year old woman who had Beau’s kidneys, but I just want her to know that it's so healing for me to hear how the recipients are doing, so I do hope she gets in touch.
“I’m now trying to raise as much awareness as I can about pool safety.
"And I’m working with our local transplant alliance too, to raise more awareness about organ donation, and I help with counselling.
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“I want people to know that organ donation does help with healing in your darkest moments.
“To know that something so special has come out of such tragedy does give a lot of comfort.”
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