Healthier Together: Importance of water safety

In this week's Healthier Together, we're focusing on water safety and how one local mom has turned her pain into purpose.

The weather has really started to warm up recently, and that means families are looking for ways to cool off in lakes, rivers and community pools.

This week in Healthier together, we’re focusing on water safety and how one local mom has turned her pain into her purpose.

Chezik Tsunoda’s 3-year-old son Yori drowned while swimming at a friend’s house back in 2018.

"It really was just a moment of silence you know where you hear all the noise and something doesn’t feel quite right," she said. "Yori was face down in the pool and we were able to get him out and first responders arrived and got him back but his brain never recovered."

Two weeks later, Tsunoda said Yori was pronounced brain-dead and died.

"Just losing a child is gut-wrenching," she said. "But for me, turning my pain into purpose has been a way of healing for me."

Tsunoda is on a mission to educate other families and founded the nonprofit No More Under. It provides resources like swimming lessons and access to life jackets.

"Oh my gosh, if I would have heard a mother telling me what happened to her child and again it’s the number one reason 1 to 4-year-olds die and the number two reason 15 to 19-year-olds die so we think we’re ok once we get them to teenage years and then they go out to lake Washington and a tragedy happens," she said. "It’s completely preventable this is a completely preventable death and it's just about getting the awareness out and making sure that people are watching the water they use life jackets they get their kids and families in swim lessons.

No More Under also teaches drowning prevention techniques like flip, float and follow. Also rescue techniques like reach, throw, don’t go.

"Our goal is to make sure that everyone no matter their race socioeconomic status anything that they are able to get in the water learn how to swim and have the knowledge and the information to stay safe in the water," Tsunoda said.

For more information and water safety resources, you can find it here.