Distraught mother hit by double tragedy after son, 15, and daughter, 12, who couldn't swim went to explore local lake
Heather Dodds said her stepson Kayden, 15, and stepdaughter Joyclyn, 12, lost their lives in a park near the Wabigoon River in Ontario last week when they went exploring the area they had recently moved to.
She said the siblings joined their cousins to take a look at their new neighborhood, but ignored her warnings not to go near the water because they hadn't learned to swim.
'They had been told many times: "You guys do not know how to swim yet. You are looking at swimming lessons this year. You're not to be near the water, unless an adult is with you,"' Dodds told CTV News.
'Unfortunately, kids are very curious and sometimes, they don't always listen.'
The stricken stepmother said when the kids went to the water's edge, Joyclyn slipped in, and quickly started struggling because she 'had no swimming experience and could not stay afloat.'
She said that her son, who was also not a strong swimmer, went in after his sister to try to save her.
The children's mother Stacey Grant said she was at home when she heard that Kayden and Joyclyn drowned while on their walk, and said she 'replays the phone call in my head every day.'
Grant recalled her horror at the phone call as she said: 'I don't get it. It doesn't make any sense. It should never have happened.'
In a GoFundMe set up to help the family pay for funeral expenses, Dodds wrote that the siblings were fun-loving and bright children.
She wrote that Kayden was obsessed with science and 'loved video games', and the brother went after his sister in the water because 'most of all, he loved his little sister.'
Joyclyn was described as 'the type of girl that could walk into a room and light it up with her smile.'
'She was always silly, loved to joke and laugh, and was OBSESSED with Stitch. Her favorite saying was "Ohana means family, and family never gets left behind." Our world seems a little darker without her bright light,' she wrote.
The family say they are now launching a water safety foundation called Water Wings in the siblings' memory to support children learning how to swim.
'We didn't have enough time to give them (Kayden and Joyclyn) the necessary skills. Had they had those skills, maybe we would be looking at a different situation,' Dodds said.
'We want to provide awareness that kids really do need to learn how to swim. You never know what is going to happen, and water is everywhere.
'If your kids are young and don't know how to swim, reach out. Reach out to Water Wings. Reach out to your local swimming clubs. Kids need to know how to swim.
'You don't want to be in our position. You don't want to ever feel what we feel.'
Kayden and Joyclyn's grandfather Michael Williams said he is also campaigning for schools to bring swimming lessons back into elementary school curriculums.
'The problem is, it's only being offered as an opt-in basis, whereas I think it should be the other way around, as an opt-out,' he told CTV News.
'So, it should be a negative option. Schools have to do it unless they have a valid reason why they can't do it.'
He admitted that he 'didn't know my grandchildren didn't know how to swim. I found out the hard way. I don't want anyone else to find out the hard way.'
'If you're a grandparent and you don't know if your grandchildren know how to swim or not, ask the question I didn't ask.'
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