SMOKEY POINT — To celebrate her 13th birthday, Shawneri Guzman wanted to hang out with her mom at the beach, just the two of them.
Her family had a favorite swimming spot on the north lake at Twin Lakes park near Smokey Point. They’d go a few times a week in the summer.
That day at the beach with her mom in 1985, a boy drowned in the north lake. Guzman and her mother watched as his body was pulled from the water. They never forgot.
Fast forward 30 years, with her 43rd birthday approaching next week, and Guzman is a mother herself. Her daughter, 18, is headed to college soon, and her son, 16, is about to get his driver’s license.
In her job at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, Guzman talks about drowning every day. She helps coordinate the life jacket loaner cabinets stocked around Snohomish County. She teaches classes on car seat safety and fall prevention but also warns parents about the dangers of drowning.
Her message is as relevant as ever. At least five people have drowned in the county since May 1, all in local rivers.
A drowning man was pulled from Twin Lakes on June 14. He was swimming with his 7-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter when he went under. Police on Tuesday confirmed that the man, 36, has survived.
The life jacket loaner cabinet at Twin Lakes was restocked two weeks ago, after a series of thefts. Already, most of those jackets have walked off, leaving only four, and none of them children’s sizes.
The park was packed on summer days in 1985, Guzman said. It used to have beaches with a sandy shore.
“Back in the day, you could hardly find a place to put a blanket,” she said.
She and her mother were lying on their blanket when they heard a commotion. A boy’s mother thought her son had run off.
“That was her first hope,” Guzman said.
People joined in the search as the boy’s mother grew frantic. A man who was swimming and happened to be an off-duty lifeguard found the boy in the water, unconscious. He was so close to shore.
The boy must have stepped into a drop-off, Guzman said. He was 10 years old and didn’t know how to swim. His body was limp. People started CPR. They didn’t have cellphones then, and it took time to summon help.
She’ll never forget the sound that came from the boy’s mother.
“It was a high-pitched scream from the gut, nothing you would ever hear in normal life,” she said. “It was just agony and disbelief. She wasn’t the only one crying. Everybody on the beach felt it.”
Guzman never found out if the boy lived. If drowning victims survive the lack of oxygen to the brain and regain consciousness, they often must battle severe infections from the bacteria in the water that entered their lungs. Some survivors never regain the same ability to walk or talk.
Guzman and her mother left the beach. On the drive home they talked about what they’d seen. They still talk about it.
Guzman grew up in Lakewood and Tulalip, and graduated from Marysville High School. After high school, she went to work at Providence’s rehabilitation unit, helping people who’d suffered a trauma, such as a stroke or car crash, get back on their feet. In 1999, she became the secretary for Safe Kids Snohomish County, a nonprofit housed within the hospital. She’s been the president for about a decade now.
Guzman meets with families who have lost someone to drowning. She thinks about the close calls in her family too — like the time her nephew slipped off a boat launch.
A drowning happens quietly, Guzman said. Someone slips under the surface and can’t get back up.
Kids grow fast, and it’s tempting for parents to buy a larger life jacket for them to grow into, Guzman said. She tests parents by asking them to lift their child up by the jacket. If they can, the jacket is snug and fits. If it slides up around the shoulders and bunches at the neck, it’s dangerously loose.
A life jacket isn’t a babysitter and won’t prevent a drowning, she said. Children need constant supervision near water. Teens and adults should swim with a buddy. Often, drugs and alcohol are a factor in drownings. Experienced swimmers — triathletes — drown, too, Guzman said.
She continues her work. The water is unpredictable.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.
Be aware
*Drowning is silent.
*Constant supervision is key.
*Know your limits. No matter how good a swimmer you are, it is easy to misjudge the water or your skills.
*Local lakes and rivers are cold. A calm surface can conceal dangerous undercurrents, rocks and tree branches. Local rivers are not safe for swimming.
*Wear a life jacket.
*Learn CPR. If something happens, call 911 quickly and know your location.
Life jacket loaner cabinet locations are Martha Lake, Twin Lakes, Lake Tye, Wenberg County Park, Lake Goodwin, Silver Lake, Wyatt Park, the downtown Lake Stevens boat launch, Flowing Lake and Dagmars Marina. Fire departments with loaner life jackets include Index, Marysville, Monroe and Sultan. Dagmars also has a cabinet. For more information, go to www.providence.org/nw-safekids or call 425-261-3047.
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