The nephew of famed surfer, Bethany Hamilton, was injured over the weekend in a Hawaii drowning incident. Now, the family is taking to social media to ask for help.
The incident took place on Oct. 11. The child was medevacked to a different hospital and “has fight in him,” his aunt wrote on social media.
“We are wrecked,” Hamilton said in the post shared to her Instagram account with over 2.4 million followers. “But I know how proper medical support can make or break someone’s chance of survival and in this case we’re asking for help from anyone who has information [on] what we can do to give my nephew the best chance.”
The surfer first shot to stardom in 2003 after the tragic shark attack in Hawaii that cost her an arm. Hamilton, then 13, made headlines not only for the harrowing ordeal but for her positive attitude and faith. Her unwavering love for the sport and fearlessness was evident in her 2004 memoir Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board, which became a New York Times Bestseller. The book was later adapted for the screen, spreading Hamilton’s positivity and inspiring thousands. It earned $47.1 million at the box office in 2011.
Florida Drownings
Florida has consistently ranked among the highest for accidental drowning deaths of children aged 1 to 4 years old in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
“Drowning can happen to anyone, any time there is access to water,” the CDC says.
Data from the Florida Department of Health states that enough children 5 years old and younger die from drowning in the state to fill approximately three to four preschool classrooms.
In its latest report on accident drownings in the United States, the CDC reported that these incidents are on the rise. About 4,500 people drowned in the United States from 2020 through 2022, an increase of approximately 500 people per year since 2019, the numbers show. The CDC pits drowning as the leading cause of death for children ranging in age from 1 to 4 years old. The rate of drowning increased 28% from 2019 and 19% in adults from 65 to 74 years old.
Leesfield & Partners has issued several water safety tips on its digital sign outside of the firm’s Coconut Grove office, which prominently displays advisories to thousands of Miami commuters each day.
Leesfield & Partners
As a law firm in a state known as a vacation destination for a litany of aquatic activities and warm weather, Leesfield & Partners attorneys are no strangers when it comes to the dangers of the water. The firm has handled numerous cases of child drownings and injuries due to crashes on boats or jet skis.
Previously, the firm secured a $575,000 settlement in the drowning death of a man against a Florida boat tour company.
A Texas woman represented by the firm was awarded $585,000 for the tragic death of her husband who drowned.
One family was forever changed when a father and husband lost his wife and two young daughters due to the U.S. Navy’s failure to maintain its pier in a safe condition.
“Ivan Grayson, tormented by the mind-numbing horror of the tragedy that wiped his family from the face of the earth, desperately needs to know why this happened,” U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King said of the case.
Grayson was awarded $2.95 million for the loss of his family.
The firm represented the family of a toddler who drowned at a pool in South Florida. Attorneys were able to prove that the inadequately installed child-safety fence around the property’s pool violated Florida’s Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act.
The firm was secured to handle a similar case out of Orlando that involved the tragic death of a 2-year-old girl. Attorneys found that the Airbnb property where the family was staying did not have an adequate child safety fence around the pool.
Leesfield & Partners recovered a confidential amount for a family whose minor son was caught in a drain at a hotel pool in Osceola County. The hotel did not have an off switch for the drain, causing the child to be underwater for 10 agonizing minutes. As a result, he was diagnosed with brain damage and will need life-long medical care. Leesfield & Partners recovered the largest amount for a case of its kind in Osceola County for the child’s family.